Unto a thousand planets, Unto a Thousand stars
by Convergence-Eternal
Summary: A Horrible Crack fic filled with Out of Character moments, OC's, and incoherent Mind Screws. Features: Dark Queen Serenity, Insane Sailor Mercury, and Alcoholic Female Shepard.
1. First Contact

May 27th

16:44

2227

Lorek, Batarian Space.

"So much for Negotiations", muttered Miranda.

"Don't be so down on yourself. I think things are going fine", screamed Shepard over the gunfire.

"Their aim is terrible", helpfully added Tali as she unloaded a thermal clip worth of fire power down the hall way.

Blood splattered every which way while the sound of steel giving way rang out with perfect clarity. They might be in batarian space but what awaited them at the end of of the hall way definitely not from Khar'shan. It was nearly 3 meters tall and lacked a kinetic barrier. The beings form was vaguely humanoid. Its limbs seemed to be synthetic in origin. Its torso however was pouring out a red liquid Shepard assumed must be blood.

"Hey Miranda, want to know something funny"

"What is it Shepard"

"I'm all out of thermal clips"

"Why is that funny?"

The seasoned N7 commander cracked a smile and activated her Omni blade.

"Leeroy . . ."

"Shepard, please don't-"

"Jenkins!"

Before Tali, or Miranda, or that . . . thing could respond Shepard fired off like like Salarian Sprinter hopped up on caffeine. She slammed into the steel construct with the force of charging Krogan and ran it through with her blade.

"Shepard, Watch out!", Cried Tali.

Unfortunately for Shepard her brilliant attack failed to finish it off. This left her target nearly dead, extremely pissed of, and within arms distance of her. Before she could say, Saren Arterius her body was hoisted up into the air. This thing was trying to choke her to death. She didn't like that.

"F-Fuck you!"

Shepard swung her right arms Omni blade. Its face was just out of reach. She tried to swing again when its other arm closed around her wrist and shattered it. Naturally Shepard responded by drooling blood while giving it another go with her other arm. This time it worked and she dropped to floor.

The Monster moved towards her. She just chuckled while walking back wards.

"Looks like we're even. Good, I was afraid this was going to be another boring fight"

Shepard let out a scream and rammed into it with her Omni blade again. This time she kept her feet moving on contact and charged with it further down hall way. She didn't stop until they both slammed into a wall. Without skipping a beat she drew her blade out, cut off one of its legs, and then forced herself on top of it to deliver the final blow. She slammed her blade into its head. She got up and took a moment to admire her handy work. Her target was most definitely dead. She smiled then turned around to face her allies.

Covered in sweat, blood, and other fluids the ever victories Shepard limped her way back down the hall way.

"Shepard, please don't ever do that again", begged Miranda.

"No promises"

"If you die then what am I supposed to tell the rest of the council?"

"That they missed out on one hell of a fight"

"Garrus would never forgive me"

"And neither would the Wrex", added Tali.

"Oh yeah", said Shepard, " I still do owe him a rematch. I'll give him a call once we get back aboard the ship"

"No Shepard, you will rest once we get back aboard this ship. When we get back to the Citadel I'll need help explaining what happened to every one their. Your presence would lend the story credibility"

"Aren't you credible enough?"

"Normally, yes, yet even I wouldn't believe whats happened over the last 4 hours if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes"

"Couldn't you just use the footage from your suit?"

"You are coming with me Shepard. That is final"

"What if I say no?"

"I'll lock you out from the ships bathrooms, all of them"

"There is a sink"

"Shepard"

"Fine, fine, I'll help you explain things to the council. But just for the record I am only doing this so I can see Bakara again. She never did tell me how she got Wrex to wear that Tux"

"Shepard, you are unbelievable sometimes"

"I know, and don't you love me all the more for it"

Miranda rolled her eyes.

"If you really are so curious Shepard I will give you a hint. The Taming of the mighty Urdnot Wrex involved a wooden spoon"

"A wooden spoon?"

"Lets just get back to the ship already"

* * *

May 6

17:00

3927

Crystal Tokyo

Queen Serenty, the Queen of Crystal Tokyo and leader of humanity sat within her chambers as she contemplated the course of the days events. Her friend and trusted advisor Mercury was trying to get the knots out of her hair. Usually this was a task left to Princess Venus, however she was currently recovering from a tragic Of-Course-I-Can-Leap-Off-The-Tallest-Building-In-Crystal-Tokyo-and-Hit-the-ground-running Accident.

"My Queen, there's been an incident past the reaches of your domain. An auxiliary task force suffered a navigation error. They sustained critical damage to their ship above an unknown world. A combat form survived the crash only to be exterminated by indigenous forces. Its combat data was irretrievable"

"I see"

The Queen was always so hard to read at times like this. Her expression was stiff, Mercury could tell that this was unwelcome news to her majesty, beyond that though she could gleam nothing.

Her Majesty. She used to use that word out of respect. Now it tasted like ashes. Over the last 900 hundred years Mercury witnessed some terrible things. Today she would observe normal things. Like her friends bone white skin, and their shallow breaths, and the brittle way they moved.

"We suspect, my Queen, that the locals may have caught a glimpse of our stealth ships when our rescue elements were observing the aftermath from orbit. They may now know that they are not alone"

Mercury paused. Serenities eye had twitched. She could see that from the Mirror in the room. Yet Mirrors work both ways. Did the Queen realize how intently she was observing her?

"Mercury, as my trusted advisor what course of action do you suggest?"

"It would appear these Xeno's are very advanced. It's only a matter of time before they discover us. I believe we should take the initiative. If we introduce ourselves to them at the right place and the right time from a position of strength then perhaps we could make peace with them"

"If diplomacy fails?"

"That is up to you my Queen. There are so many options."

"Indeed. Would you mind leaving me alone in my chambers for a while Mercury. I can get the rest of the knots out myself"

"Yes, my Queen"

The Blue haired Princess put down the hairbrush, gave a curt bow, and departed with all due haste. The doors to the Queens chambered swung open to allow her leave. Once she was nine paces out of the room they closed behind her.

'Thats two steps early', she thought to herself. Such a thing hadn't happened in a hundred years. This could only mean one thing. The Silver crystal was faltering. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Mercury silently made her way to a nearby portal. The other Sol Scouts would want to hear of this. Lest their precious Usagi fall into peril once more. Despite her Queenly bearing she was still a total ditz.

Crystal Tokyo was a place built on hope. Yet prophecies had been circling of horribly calamities destined to manifest themselves by the end of this Century. A new age was coming. An age of war.

* * *

June 1st

13:00

2227

New Citadel, Krogan DMZ

"Commander Shepard, please repeat what you just said"

Sparatus made that request. He was a Turain. Which meant he was part of the most militaristic Race in council space. He flexed his talons lightly as he eyed the Commander.

"We were in the midst of celebrations on the Normandy when out of the blue we received an strange signal coming from Batarian space. I took control of the ship and went in to investigate."

"What happened then?", prodded Sparatus.

His Asari counterpart Tevos cut in, "Shepard already told us what happened. We musn't forget the real issue here. Our first contact with an unknown species ended in blood shed."

"It attacked us", yelled Tali.

Tevos pursed her lips, "And humanity was in violation of council law when they activated a mass relay. But look where we are now. This is serious"

"This is serious", repeated Sparatus, "we must begin mobilizing our forces immediately. It's the only way we can ensure a favorable causality ratio"

Tevos glared at her Turian counterpart.

Bakara huffed, "Look at us. Squabbling like Varren. Why don't we just skip the drama and listen to Shepard."

Miranda, the human councilor, smirked as each and every member of the council turned towards Shepard yet again. "So, what is your recommendation commander?"

"We should send a diplomatic mission to clear up any misunderstandings", said Shepard flatly.

Tevos was stunned, Sparatus was despondent, and the other Councilors were any where in between. And then Shepard continued, "With a few dreadnaughts nearby. Just in case."

"Shall we put it to a vote?", asked Miranda.

"Lets not waste any ones time", responded Tevos, "I'll contact Thessia and make the necessary arrangements."

"Does that mean I can go?"

"Yes, That should be all. Thank you for your time commander Shepard", said Tevos.

The Commander left the room. She walked through security and found herself walking through crowd after crowd. She knew that there were only 5.5 million residents in the New Citadel. But when she pushed her way through the most crowded sections she could forget that, at least for a little while.

The station was hardly a recreation of the old site. A Vorcha civil engineer had designed it after the war. It was nearly energy independent. Every step a pedestrian took created electricity needed to power the station thanks to pressure pads built in all of the flooring and the lower sections of every wall. This, paired with heavy insulation, state of the art energy control systems, UV absorbent glass, and countless recycling centers close to the New Citadels core made it a defenders wet dream. It also housed enough Dextro and Levo based emergency rations to last several hundred years. And its shielding was originally derided by a rival Asari architect as grossly over powered.

This criticism was later dropped after tests revealed the long-term conservation used by Klevt would make up for any short-term energy losses after the first decade that the shield array was in service.

For many the new stations success was a sign of hope. For Shepard it was proof that things never really changed. According to Miranda, Klevt died before the council could formally recognize them for their achievements. And thanks to some prodding by Tevos, and the newly confirmed Idras, the civic award instead went to-

"Shepard!"

The commander turned, and they came face to face with some one they never expected to see again.

"Eruba, I thought you were on Tuchanka"

"I was", responded the Asari, "but one of my Clan sisters gave me a job here. I figured a more diverse environment might be good for my daughters. "

"Daughters?"

"Triplets. I never thought it would happen. I guess sometimes things just work out that way."

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you name them?"

"Oh well, Wrex, Char, and . . . Shepard"

"I'm honored", responded the Commander, "But weren't you a little scared that they'd get labeled as a trouble maker with a name like that"

"Why would they? Shepard is the second most popular name on Tuchanka."

Shepard smiled.

Suddenly an Alarm went off, and Eruba glanced down at her Omni tool. "I'd better get going. My sister is putting in some art work I designed and she wants me to be there."

"Well, I don't want to keep you waiting. Maybe we'll run into each other again. At my favorite shop in the citadel"

"I hope so", Eruba said Quickly, "It was a pleasure seeing you again commander"

Another alarm went off. This time it came from the Commanders Omni tool

" I should go "

The Commander went into a nearby shop and checked her tool to figure out why on earth there was an alarm set on it.

"Fuck", muttered the Commander, "I'd better get back to Palavan"

* * *

May 5th

23:59

3927

Nunatak, The edge.

Blue light filled up the room. It tinted the white text of the computer screen Professor Kino was working on. The thick bold text was a tad too large for her tastes. She liked it smaller, more condensed, a little more subdued. She sighed and pushed her glasses up a bit.

"Professor Kino! Professor Kino!"

Without skipping a beat she scooted back her chair, spun it around 90 degrees, and waited. Her lab tech Skult sprinted into the room. Just like she always did. She tripped over a table. Which she always did. Even though they'd moved the blasted thing around half a dozen times. And she went careening forcefully towards the well-trained Crystalmancer.

This time her face hit the bosses lap. Which was a little softer then the floor, and a great deal colder.

"I-I", she stammered as she tried to push herself up. Frey said nothing and didn't move a muscle until her assistant was up.

"What is it?"

"Professer Kino, I mean Frey, I mean Mam- I mean, new report from orbit. Your Uncles defense satellite is picking up data again. From its crystal based sensors!"

"Those haven't worked in more then a century."

"I know! I know! And it gets better", Skult more or less screamed, "Nishimura was able to isolate the source of interference. Its dark energy!"

The professor's heart dropped.

"Dark energy. For it to interfere with a VII iteration defense satellite it would have to saturate the whole universe"

"I know. Isn't it amazing? It explains so much. Why the sailors that run on dark energy are so strong, and why our systems have been malfunctioning, and why the birth rates been so low for the central worlds", now Skult was jumping up and down like a small terran dog, "its a good thing that there was a sudden gap in it so we could get these measurements. Thank the Queen! This is amazing"

"Frey got out of her chair. This made the overly jubilant assistant freeze. The professor towered over her. She was from the Sol system. She was of Jupiter blood. And she never, ever, left her swivel chair unless she absolutely had to.

"A gap?"

"Y-yes. The whole quadrants gone back to pre reform levels, Momohara thinks it could have traveled to another universe. At least that's what she said at the conference"

"Conference. Explain."

"You were sleeping. Every one showed up this morning out of the blue. I took notes."

"You didn't wake me"

"I was scared to."

"Duly noted assistant Skult.", intoned the Professor as her lips quivered, "We have much to discuss."

"Really!"

"Yes, and . . . do remind the locals to stay out of our freezer. Good specimens are hard to find. Especially in peacetime"

* * *

May 6

19:00

3927

Miranda Castle, Sol system

After traveling in excess of 75 million kilometers via Portal to an ultra fortified castle orbiting the third most militarized object in the solar system Mercury found herself facing a new barrier. A gate, a really really big gate, Uranus had apparently decided to built a really big gate. Now Mercury had to figure out how to get in.

Mercury flipped open her mercury computer to just hack it. Alas that did not work out quite how she planned. Instead of finding lines of malleable code she found the very irate face of Uranus's Power Guardian glowering at her through the Mercury computers screen. It looked just like its owner, only in sprite format, with killing intent clearly visible on its features.

"Mercury, you weren't planning on hacking into my systems were you?"

"Does that sound like something I would do?"

"It sounds like something Guardian Neptune told me you did last week"

"Those were under extenuating circumstances. I was only taking a look at your systems. To make sure you didn't have any viruses. I've heard rumors that your run times have been sub optimal"

"Di-Did the Guardian Mars tell you that?"

"No, mine did. Now, Would You Kindly . . ."

The avatar for the Guardian Uranus flickered. Its color pitched and it finally reset to its default expression.

"I'd like to go in and visit Uranus now. Please lower the force fields and open the gate."

"Yes, Lady Mercury"

With that the force fields fell and the gate swung inwards. Within lay a cavernous room filled to the brim with all sorts of advanced equipment. Centermost among all this was Sailor Uranus sitting on the floor with a small child in her lap and what appeared to be an ancient book of some kind in front of them.

"And this is a Mercedes 450 SL. I was driving one in Canada when some one challenged me to a drag race in the pouring rain. They had a Aston Marti. I won."

She flipped the page with a smile. Uranus didn't bother looking up as her Blue haired colleague approached. She was far to busy pointing at yet another illustration. The child in the Guardians lap had her eyes locked on the pages. She was eating up every word from Uranus like it was the most important thing she'd ever heard. Despite her self Mercury couldn't help but smile too. The girl reminded her of some one else. Some one whose attitude could illuminate a darkened room, like a firefly in the darkness.

The Plight of Crystal Tokyo could last a little longer. This moment and that little girls smile weren't worth shattering. Mercury decided to sit down so that she too could listen in. At least for a little while

* * *

June 4th

03:00

2227

Jarrahe Station, Eagle Nebula

"Are you sure that you weren't followed?"

Miranda Nodded. The Salarian Scientist next to her walked over to a Modem so they could put in the access code. After a lengthy wait the stations doors to the inner sanctum opened with a piercing hiss.

"Those doors are awfully thick for research on Gamma radiation"

"Yes, yes they are Councilor Lawson."

Miranda's guide would pause every few step to peer back at her. They'd look at her head and then her limbs before moving on. The deeper they went into the station the more astonished they seemed that she was still present.

"Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing. I'm just glad that you decided to pay our facility a visit. Its such a pleasure to have a councilor visit us. A living councilor. We'll do our best to keep you that way"

The corridor took an unexpected turn. Blood stains, flickering lights, and unexplained gashes rigged the scene. The further on they went the deeper the cuts became.

"You wouldn't believe how close call of a call the previous research team had two weeks ago. They made a few minor miscalculations, lost a few personal, and were able to observe their Janitors slow decent into madness"

"How many survivors were there?"

"Enough"

At long last they came to one final set of doors. It took nearly thirty minutes for Miranda's guide to get them open. When everything was said and done the scientist looked back at Miranda. Now they weren't looking at her head, or her limbs, the scientist was looking straight through her with those familiar empty eyes. The eyes of some one who'd seen what cant be described. The kind of eyes that belong to some one who hopes beyond hope they never have to even try to explain. Lest what they buried within the mind crawl its way out again. If they can't forget, they don't want to remember.

"Welcome to the Lab Councilor Lawson"

Charts lined the walls. Panicked staff shuffled to and fro. Something had these Salarians incensed. Something Miranda had come all this way to see.

"The Subject that the Batarians sent caused quite a stir. We were expecting to perform another ground-breaking dissection. This dissection was ground breaking for all the wrong reasons. Human, female, 8 years old. It was embedded within a container that restricted its growth, that shackled its movement, and we suspect ultimately drove it insane"

"She's human?"

"That is correct Councilor Lawson. The noncoding region of its DNA differed some what from the norm yet we can't deny what it was."

"Did you find any information that could lead us to whoever did this?"

"Its mind was shackled to some kind of inorganic being. The secrets to who, or what, is behind this might be buried within its memory banks."

"Thank you"

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"How young was she when they put her into that suit"

"We can't be sure. A conservative estimate would be during its fourth year. Neurological readings suggest that it must have been younger. The damage to its brain is severe. Extensive Trauma on a cell by cell basis, it shouldn't have been alive, the suit kept it alive. The levels of Serotonin in its brain were abnormally high as well. It must have been straddling the line between life and death for most of its existence, straddling the line between dream and reality, straddling the line between sanity and madness."

"That's all I needed to hear", stated Miranda Lawson.

Miranda kept her head high, her expression blank, and her neck stiff when she turned to leave. She'd seen enough, she'd heard enough, and she'd felt enough for today. Miss Lawson escaped the station before it happened. Before she lost control.

She rushed into the shuttle. Quick shallow breathes, something warm running down her face, and whole body shaking as she forced herself forwards. Somehow she managed to reach the pilots seat. She needed to get out of there. She needed to disconnect, to think clearly, and be in control.


	2. The Apprentice

May 6

22:35

3927

Miranda Castle, Sol System

Mercury opened her eyes. She checked the time on the UI of her visor. She'd taken a 2 hour dirt nap. Uranus was sitting just a little ways away from her. She was stroking the hair of that little girl in her lap.

"Did you sleep well?", whispered Haruka.

"Yeah", whispered back Mercury.

Haruka Tenoh, also known as Sailor Uranus while transformed, ever so gently moved the little girl in her lap onto the floor. She pointed towards a corner of the room then slinked away. Mercury followed her. Both trying their hardest not to make a sound. Mercury reached the corner first by purposely taking the biggest steps she could to accommodate for her ally's greater height. Only once they were absolutely sure that they were far out of earshot did they dare speak.

"So Ami, please remind me when breaking and entering became proper ways to visit your trusted allies."

"If I'd tried to contact you by other means then Michuru would have found out"

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"I wanted to keep things controlled. To ask for your advice before I let things move forwards. To stop things from getting out of hand"

"You can trust Michiru with that. She's amazing at keeping stuff under wraps. Way better then me."

"Mina has almost as many ears as you do"

"Why can't we trust Mina either? Ami you've changed. You sound like me 940 years ago"

"Things have changed in Crystal Tokyo. I think something's wrong with the silver crystal. I don't know what's causing it, I don't know how we can fix it, but I can't afford to loose Usagi. We can't afford to lose Usagi. The people can't afford to lose their Queen."

"Then you should have gotten everyone together so we can solve this. You don't have to do things alone. I expected this type of thinking from Pluto but never from you. We're your friends and we are here to help. Stay here tonight. We'll talk with every one else in the morning. Now if you'll excuse me I need to grab some blankets from the supply closet"

"I'll help you. Besides, I heard from a well connected friend that you forgot to order bedding in your supply shipments. A shuttle from your home world won't arrive in time and we both know you are too proud to use a portal for fear of any one putting two and two together. However if memory serves you did end up ordering allot of Pillows for some kind of battle royal. Therefore the logical solution to all this is for me to help you build a Pillow fort"

"Thanks Ami"

"A pillow fort without trenches, or buttresses, or Traps. I know how serious you take defenses."

"Yeah, yeah, just help me get this stuff together so we can go to bed."

Ami and Haruka stormed off to get Pillows and prepare a fort for their newest little apprentice. When the sun does come up over Tokyo they can gather the guardians. Until then all they can do is wait.

* * *

June 5th

12:15

2227

New Citadel, Krogan DMZ

The Council had assembled. The human Councilor Miranda Lawson, the Quarian Councilor Tali vas Normandy, the Krogan Councillor Urdnot Bakara, the Asari Councilor Tevos, the Turian councilor Sparatus, and finally the still green (not literally, more of a blueish color really) Salarian councilor Idras were all present.

Sparatus was the first to speak. He turned towards Miranda and asked her, "Are you sure these reports are accurate"

"To the best of my knowledge they are"

Next, Tali informed the council that, "This code is far to alien to be the work of Cerberus. It's so erratic. If I didn't know any better then I'd say its owner was angry."

"So", noted Bakara, " Our suspicions we correct. We are in fact dealing a new race. And we have no idea what they want or what they are capable of." Suddenly she laughed and gave a toothy grin, "For all we know they might want to eat us"

Idras edged away from her Krogan counterpart, "The reports say that the specimen was human. Or at similar to them in biological terms, it is most probable that what we killed wasn't part of this new species. An experiment on their part perhaps, or a poor attempt at infiltration"

"Or diplomacy", suggested Tevos, "this race could have different values then ours. We need more information"

"If this is their attempt at diplomacy then I think we'd better reconsider ours", Lawson stated, "In all my years at Cerberus I never saw- I couldn't believe . . . I still can't." Miranda bit back harsher words and pressed on. She looked at Tevos and told her, "If diplomacy fails then the system Alliance is going to war. With or without the Councils backing."

"Do you really think that wise?"

Tevos knew she had struck a nerve. Any hint of emotion vanished from the Human councilors face. She turned to Sparatus, "How many cannons does it take to make a world burn?"

"Its hard to say"

"And to destroy a well fortified system in one day?"

"Several dreadnaughts, or a small fleet"

"In that case I'd like to renegotiate a treaty. I understand it would be setting a precedent. But these are exceptional times. And if, a new agreement would make council space safer, would you be opposed"

"No"

The word dropped out of his mouth like lead. Out of the corner of his vision Sparatus could see Tevos. She wasn't looking at him. She was staring at Lawson.

"Are you suggesting that we renegotiate the treaty of the Treaty of Faraxen? That treaty was put in place for a reason. If we repeal it there could be an arms race!"

"And who", asked the Quarian Councilor Tali vas Normandy, " would take part in such an Arms race. We are all on the same side here"

"That could change", countered Tevos, " We need to consider the long term implications of such a decision."

Sparatus turned towards Tevos, " A treaty is only valid if all sides decide to honor it. We are facing an enemy that comes from outside of council space, an enemy that could be on par with the Rachni. Now is the time for decisive action. While we still have the element of surprise"

"Am I the only one who remembers the Relay 314 incident!", exploded Tevos.

Silence fell over the chamber.

Idras cleared her throat, "Perhaps we should take some time to consider all the options available to us."

"So be it", declared Sparatus .

* * *

June 5th

12:16

2227

Classified, Rio de Janeiro

"Now don't you worry", the man in dark armor announced, " The asymmetrical warfare sites might be in use, and our primary training center might be filled up, but all of you are still going to get the very best that the N7 program can offer"

"Will that be on the test, sir?"

N7 commander Richard, Hero of the reaper war, survivor of Biotically administered poison answered, "No".

The Blue student raised her hand again and then she lowered it. Their instructor wasn't even looking at them any more. Instead he was peeking into the overflowing auditorium through the still open door.

"And", Richard announced suddenly, "while I might not be an authorized instructor, should you survive, I'll still make operators out of every single last one of you"

He looked back to smile warmly at his "class".

The only other sentient left in the hallway gave him an awkward bow. "My names Ariska, sir"

" Well, Arisaka, What makes you think that you ought to receive Asymmetric warfare training?"

"Matriarch Lindanya says that I am not allowed to return to my station until I complete it sir!"

"In that case", replied Richard, "You've come to the right Destroyer"

* * *

 **Codex: Legacy of Doctor Surya**

Doctor Surya was the foremost scientist among the colonists who would later form the auxiliary forces of crystal Tokyo. Her research dipped into a variety of topics but her most famous advances were related to the human body. Her ability to create the first being known as an advanced augment, a task where many of her colleagues had failed, cemented her place within history. And while no one is quite sure what exactly this first creation was it's rumored that Night flesh, combat forms, and Suit Mates are all descended from it.

 **Night Flesh:** A type of artificial muscle like material that's embedded beneath the skin of Auxillary soldiers from the oldest recruiting sites. In its relaxed state it has 3/4th the density of ordinary human tissue. When it comes under extreme stress, from the impact of a projectile or heavy gravity, it becomes impossibly dense. Night flesh forms a symbiotic relationship with its host. Regimental Suit Mates can take control of soldiers Night Flesh should they go feral or lose consciousness.

 **combat form:** Symbols of defiance in the face of certain death, combat forms are the deadliest constructs currently produced by Auxiliary. They are usually over 3 meters tall and their limbs are filled with Night Flesh. Each and every Combat form is equipped with its own Suit Mate to help its host retain their sanity. Doctor Surya constructed the first combat form out of her own grand daughter.

 **Suit Mate:** In response to heavy material constraints and alternate demands the Artificial Intelligence of the edge evolved in a somewhat perplexing manner. Each and every Suite Mate has it's own personality, code of ethics, and memory. They have trouble with advanced calculations so they've been relegated to rudimentary support roles. Suit Mate's can be found at the Division level, Battalion or Brigade level, and aboard high value constructs. Suit Mates are an essential part of Auxiliary network security. Their code mutates as they age, and they think that every Auxiliary soldier under their command is their child. Suit Mates can feel emotional pain.


	3. A Morning to remember

May 7th

06:00

3927

Crystal Tokyo

Inside of the royal banquet hall, Venus was turning green.

"Saturn, what did we just eat?"

"A delicacy from Nunatak. I'm still not sure how to pronounce its name"

"Do you know what the name means?"

"Ummm, I think its something along the line of freshly killed meat"

"I'm gonna be sick!"

Venus, the Guardian of Love, sprinted to the nearest bathroom with blinding speed.

Ami wasn't faring much better to be honest. She kept on telling herself that it tasted just like Chicken. Which wasn't working because she could taste what she assumed must be chicken mixed in with it, among other less recognizable things.

Jupiter who was a little further down the table looked only slightly paler then usual. Her iron gut seemed to be nullifying the dishes potent effects.

"Hotaru, what spices did you use for this?"

"None, other then any fluids I wasn't able to separate from the meats"

Rei got up next. She managed to walk half way to the closest bathroom before her self control broke down and she started sprinting. Ami looked around to see who was left. Neptune hadn't touched her food, Uranus was asking for seconds with a look of grim determination, Jupiter was amassing a collection of travel sized spice bottles underneath the table while looking back and forth for an opening, King Endymion didn't even have a plate out (bastard must have been warned ahead of time), Chibi-Usa had called in "Sick", Saturn was treating this dish like any other, and the Queen for once in her life wasn't scarfing down food.

It was in these desperate times that Ami decided to bring up the Silver Crystal. Before they lost Uranus and Jupiter to this deadly struggle as well.

"My Queen, there is something I feel we should discuss"

"What might that be?"

"Your Crystal has been growing faint. Have you been feeling well lately?"

"A little tired. Of course there are rather personal reasons for that. Reasons I'm simply not ready to discuss"

"We are your trusted advisors", broke in Uranus, "please let us help"

"Oh I'm quite all right. I'll need help from you in a few months but until then"

Neptune's eyes widened. Why hadn't Pluto told her, or Mercury, or Mina or . . . did they even know yet?

She glanced over at Haruka who looked determined and confused. It was only a matter of time before she'd be heading to the bathroom. Next she glanced over at Mercury who looked pale as a ghost. The Blue haired princess seemed to be deep in thought.

"My Queen, Chibi-Usa's already inherited your powers. If second child was born then . . . then . . ."

"Then I Imagine the strain on her would be unbearable"

Every one in attendance barring the Queen herself turned. Pluto had arrived. She took her seat and respectfully nodded towards the Queen like appearing out of thin air was the most normal thing in the world.

"You're right", responded Neo-Queen Serenity.

Now even Hotaru looked a little sick.

"Do you really want to go through with this?", asked Ami, "even though you know full well what might happen?"

"Its a risk I'm willing to take"

"You are risking your life. Just like that?"

"One day you'll understand"

"Understand? Understand? Understand what exactly?"

"Love"

Mercury froze. Her hands were quivering. She shook her head. Then she started to cry.

The Queen arose from the table. She walked behind Princess Mercury and gave her a big hug.

"It'll be all right"

"No, no it won't", Mercury tried to turn her head so she could look her Queen in the eyes. Alas her eyes were so puffy right now she could barely see an inch in front of her

"Things are going to be all right. I promise", she rested her head on Ami's left shoulder, "I promise"

* * *

June 5th

16:29

2227

Palavan, Home

Clad in heavy armor and armed with roses, Commander Shepard walked into a seemingly empty apartment. There were bottles of dextro-amino acid based liquor all over the floor and, the commander noted with a bemused smirk, the sniper was missing from the mantle piece. She sauntered into the bedroom and found Garrus shirtless and calibrating.

"I think", he said, "that if you leave me alone for another week. I might just be able to improve this rifles accuracy by .48 percent"

"Now that doesn't sound like the Garrus Vakarian I know"

"You're right. But I didn't want to hurt your feelings the week after our honey moon or ruin the surprise"

"You think there's anything left in this galaxy that can surprise me"

Garrus put the sniper rifle on his lap and slid something out from underneath a nearby pillow. He threw it at Shepard, who caught it effortlessly with her free hand.

"Now this one was a little tricky but, .58 percent"

The Commander whistled appreciatively, "I didn't know you could get that out of an M-8. But it still doesn't surprise me"

"And why is that commander?"

"Because I managed to bag Archangel. It's the second best decision I ever made"

"And what was the best?", asked Garrus breathlessly as the Commander approached him.

"Missing a shot at the citadel. Actually, those two are pretty closely related. So . . .", the commander said as she straddled the best-damn-sniper in the galaxy, "I think I might change the second one to this"

She leaned in and Garrus didn't fight back. When she pulled back he was silent for a full seven seconds.

"Interesting choice commander"

Shepard put down the flowers, and then the gun, so she could run a hand down his face.

"You think its over?", the Commander replied with a dangerous grin, "I'm just getting started"

* * *

June 6th

01:35

2227

Palavan, Home.

Shepard winced and got out of bed. She had to take a shit. The lights were already on. "Of course he'd have to go at the same time I do", she murmured. The Turian formerly known as Archangel responded, "Couldn't have said it better myself". Shepard turned her head slowly. Garrus wasn't on the toilet. He was standing by his side of the bed. His armor was on.

"Don't worry Shepard. I'll still be here when you get back", his mandibles twitched right after he said that.

She inhaled slowly, turned her head the other way so she'd be looking straight ahead, and headed into the bathroom. When she got out Garrus was still waiting. He had a sniper rifle in his hands.

"You should go".

The Turian gave their commander a mock salute. She returned it. Shepard spared a glance at the rifle she'd left on the bed. When she turned her attention back to the other side of the room, he was gone. Shepard went over to the bed and put on heavy armor back on. Then the commander went for her rifle.

She was done here.

* * *

 **Sailor Moon Mini Codex: The Line of** **Succession**

The Queen can only have one daughter. And the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity, Princess Chibi-Usa, will one day be a Queen herself.

It could be said that the true power of the Queen lies with the Silver Crystal. A crystalline object of immense importance that the Queen uses to protect crystal Tokyo. Information about the silver crystal is sparse. But there are rumors.

Some say that the Crystal runs on the life force of its owner. That the power of the crystal is linked to the Queens heart. A few have even speculated that the Queens Mother, Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, died using the Silver Crystal.


	4. Fear of the Dark

May 7th

12:01

3927

Titan, Black Site 9

The whole area was filled by blue light. A necessity, she'd been told. Every guard smiled at her as she passed. She could see bits of flesh lodged in their teeth. Disposing of the Xenos captives was a pleasure, they told her. She spared a look at the cells she passed. The occupants shivered violently as she passed.

They said nothing.

At long last she came to the only unguarded cell. Well, it looked unguarded. Hotaru could feel the life energy of over a dozen Uranian operatives. There was so much fear in them. There was so much fear in every one. At least the guards from Nunatak liked her.

She pressed her hands against the violet crystal glass of the cell. It parted for her. She walked through. The crystal re solidified behind her. Its was said that only the dead, and the Princess Saturn could cross it.

"Tomoe?"

The thing in the cell shuddered. Its long white hair reached to the floor. Many said that the thing should been destroyed. That it was unnatural. Then again those same people claimed the Princess of Saturn was unnatural. That she was unnatural.

"Keiko?"

Silence.

"Mom?"

It turned. It-she, was beautiful.

"Hotaru?"

The Princess of Saturn smiled, "I missed you"

Keiko returned the smile and then- it – shuddered and turned around. Blood raced its way to the ground. Hotaru went up to heal it and then . . . then she stepped back. Her healing would remove too much dark energy. Which would kill –it- the spiritual anchor. Mercury wouldn't like that. She said the information it gave them was invaluable.

Hotaru shook her head. Then she transformed wordlessly, in silence. She walked towards –it- slowly and raised her glaive high over head. She brought it down quickly. In one smooth motion. "Rest in Peace Mom", the corpse burst into blue flames. "I love you", whispered the Princess of Saturn.

* * *

June 16th

19:00

2227

Illium, Asari Space

"Tevos"

"Oh, you're here Shepard", exhaled the Asari Councilor.

The commander was here. And she stuck out like a sore thumb. The space she was in oozed peace and tranquility. Which the commander found surprisingly unsurprising, of course the Apartment she broke into after wandering down this worlds meanest streets would be a little piece of Thessia.

"You are a hard person to track down"

Tevos nodded, "At this time, it brings me no pleasure to hear those words from you commander. Although in hindsight", she briefly permitted herself something loosely resembling a smile, "I think that I could cherish this moment".

Shepard took a deep breath.

" With all due respect Councilor what the hell is going on? I haven't been able to contact Idras, or Sparatus, when I tried to Contact Tali she said she was meeting with admirals, I got transferred to an ex warlord trying to reach Baraka, and Miranda has been a black hole. Then there's you."

"Our species are getting ready for war"

"So?"

"The autopsy of the enemy you killed came in. It used to be a human 8-year-old girl."

"So, was it Cerberus?"

"Unlikely"

"And you aren't going to pretend it was Cerberus"

"We can't. The technology is too Alien. To primitive. Cerberus was many things but they were never wasteful, and they certainly didn't seem to hate your species."

Now Tevos was eyeing the damn celling. Like she thought something was going to drop down and gobble her up. Shepard followed her line of sight and found nothing, just a shadow.

"Have the Salarians been able to gather anything from the alien crash sight"

"Cloaking technology", whispered Tevos. Then she added quickly under her breath, "unknown elements. Unexplained damage. Bits of organic material fused with the vessel. Genetic material was too badly damaged- it was- same Amino bases as us. As us Shepard. As us."

"Levo-Amino based life then?", asked the Spectre.

The Asari Councilor was too busy muttering to herself to formulate a proper response. Shepard decided to leave. As she left she failed to notice that the shadows were moving, multiplying. Tevos did notice. But she couldn't move nor could she scream.

* * *

May 7th

19:45

3927

Nunatak, The edge.

The Professor wiped the chunks of sticky flesh on her coat. The corner of her mouth twitched. She could still smell the damn fools perfume. She hated dealing with merchants. She hated dealing with old prideful men. She had no time for such useless people.

The Merchant in question was an short sighted fool who found something buried in the ice. So they took it to the market to try and sell it. Only that something human and it was still alive.

Hawking human meat on Nunatak and pretending it was Xenos meat, that was a serious offense. It had serious consequences. Ignorance is no excuse. Their skull gave little resistance. Her hands delivered justice.

The Professor enjoyed killing him. It made her think of the good old days.

She resettled her mind, and her body, and her soul. The person that the Merchant salvaged from the ice was stable. Barely stable. Shouldn't be alive. They were alive. Good.

Without outside assistance, at sub zero temperatures, their situation continued to improve. Must have something to do with those crystals embedded in her. Would she regain consciousness soon? Hard to tell. Constantly sliding from the data area to the storage site was tiresome. The professor concluded that she should have Skult bring the miracle girl in.

That way she could try and resuscitate her. Find out where the miracle girl was from, give her hot Cocoa, and maybe find out more about the glowing green crystals jutting out of her right shoulder.

The professor had so much to do and so little time. So much was happening. Her mind was awash with all the new data sister laboratories were providing.

She'd heard reports about the horrible creations that the so-called scientists of Venus were forming from willing subjects. The Shadows. That wasn't science. It wasn't real science. Bastardized augmentation, that's what it was. Nowhere near as elegant or efficient as crystal based advances. She would do better. With enough development she was confident that they could create something truly valuable, something truly new. Something worthy of the Queen.


	5. Reconnaissance

June 17th

05:47

2227

Illium

Last night Liara had the strangest dream that Shepard had snuck into her apartment. This morning she woke up, and found Shepard in her Apartment. The Hero of the Citadel was slumped over her the bathroom sink with sick dribbling down her chin.

"Shepard? Shepard!"

Liara rushed into the Bathroom. But Shepard just waved her off.

"I'm fine Liara. Just thought I'd drop by. Sorry about the sink. I'll pay to have it cleaned"

"I don't care about the sink. I care about you. Shepard, is everything all right?"

"Of course Liara. I feel just dandy. Might pass out though. Ryncol has some bite to it"

"How much have you been drinking? How long have you been drinking Shepard?"

"You really want to ask that question? We might end up standing here all day"

Liara sighed and tried to help Shepard up.

"Come on Shepard, we need to talk"

"Aren't we talking right now?"

"No, we need to talk. Just be quiet and let me help you. You weigh a ton"

"Hey, most of this was put in by Cerberus. I didn't ask for bones capable of withstanding a 4 story fall"

" With your antics I'm sure the illusive man classified them as a necessity"

Some how the pair managed to maneuver into the next room. With considerable difficulty Liara managed to let her friend down on the nearest, and only, bed in her apartment.

"Please be gentle"

"That doesn't sound like something the Commander Shepard I know would say"

"Yeah, well, maybe the Commander Shepard you know hasn't been home for a while"

"Is this about-"

"No, yes, just let me lay down"

"Look at me Shepard, look at me"

Liara got down on her knees to brush Shepard's hair back. The Commanders eyes were half closed. She kept on trying to look away from Liara.

"Do you realize how much it hurts to see you like this. This isn't just about you any more. This is about Garrus. This is about us. All of us. We need you Shepard. I know you're hurting. Whats wrong? Please, you can tell me"

"No"

"Shepard, I'm trying. Please talk to me"

"I can't"

"You can. Don't you realize who you are? I'll help, we'll all help, here"

Liara reached out and pressed her head against Shepard's.

"Embrace Eternity"

"What the fu-"

A thousand images raced through Shepards mind. Some of them were hers and some of them weren't. This wasn't Shepards first time melding. But something definitely felt different. Liara was trying to lead her to something. The sea of memories she'd been lost in was steadily thinning.

Shepards spoke out within her mind, 'Liara, did you just Rape me?'

'No, why would you, I would never-'

'I'm fucking wasted Liara. You can't just drop me on a bed then start getting your groove on with me. I have standards'

'Shepard I was going to go through your memories, find out what was wrong, and then we'd work things out together. This could have been a really important moment for us'

'What ever. Just wake me up so we can watch Blasto 64 together'

'Okay, but do you think we could keep this between us'

'Of course. I Promise not to tell a soul'

' I can sense when you're lying to me Shepard'

'Fuck'

'Just don't tell Garrus'

'I promise I-'

'Shepard'

'Fine, okay I promise, just wake me up. This whole two minds one body thing is freaking me out'

'Oh really, because I can see what you did with Sha'ira"

'GET OUT OF MY HEAD!'

* * *

May 8th

01:45

3927

Mariner Castle

Rei was a long ways away from earth and long ways away from her trusted sacred fire. Within the safety of her inner sanctum there was nothing to do. She could meditate here because she could meditate just about any where. With her mind open and her eyes closed she could pass the time. There was nothing to do here. Nothing to do at all.

"Hello Rei"

She opened one eye

"Hello Ami"

Rei closed her left eye and then opened both eyes. Now Haruka was here too.

"Hello Haruka"

Half a dozen Uranian operatives uncloaked.

"I see"

Rei sighed and got up.

"So what can I do for you"

Mercury tried to explain, "Well we've been talking and an intergalactic war may or may not break out. Usagi wanted us to bring you up to speed. You and Mina will be in charge of investigating a species known as the Krogan. Michuru and Haruka have been assigned to another species known as the Salarians. Jupiter will handle the Elcor and I will handle humanity. Finally we've decided Hotaru will take care of the Turians"

"Divide and conquer"

"Exactly"

"Usagi was okay with this?"

"Its merely a contingency plan. Surely negotiations won't fail. I'll make sure of that"

The Operatives recloaked, Ami opened up a portal, and Haruka departed with her soldiers. Rei was already settling into the silence. Only Ami was left.

"I'm afraid we won't coming home for quite some time"

"Were you telling the truth earlier?"

"I was, when Negotiations start they won't fail. But this Contingency plan may just be the best one we have"

"When are you planning on telling every one else"

"When I have to Rei. I'd invite Mina over tonight if I were you. In a few months we might be too busy for good byes"

"Didn't you say Mina and I were serving together?"

"Good bye Rei, I'll . . . see you when I see you"

Ami opened up a portal and stepped into it. She was about to go through when she heard Rei mutter something under her breath.

"Not if I see you first"

The Blue haired princess smiled grimly at that.

"Good bye, Rei."

"Goodbye Ami"

There was a blinding flash of light and then the blue haired princess was gone. Rei was trapped in silence. Maybe she'd invite Mina over after all. She wanted their last night in Sol together to be a good one.

* * *

September 10th

17:36

2227

Omega Nebula, Omega

Haruka Tenoh and Michuru Tenoh held hands as they walked down yet another dirty street. The Taller blonde was decked out in a leather Jacket while her blue-green haired partner was wearing something more elegant. Most of the street wretches they came across gave the pair their distance. For some one to get this deep into Omega wearing something like that they had to be important. Here, important also meant deadly.

"You know". began Neptune, " I think I heard some mercenaries talking about a club a few streets back. It sounds quite interesting"

Haruka smirked, "Well ordinarily I'd never go somewhere as obscene as a club. But if my princess would like to visit one then how could I, an honorable gentlemen, ever refuse"

The Pair walked a little faster now. They were headed to the afterlife.

In the midst of all sorts of colorful characters Haruka and Michuru smiled as they made their way through the crowd. Michuru snaked her way between the impatient denizens while Haruka took a more forceful approach. It didn't take long for the Bouncer spot the pair.

"Excuse me, would you mind letting us in", politely inquired Michuru.

"Sorry pretty lady, but your kind aren't welcome here"

"What exactly is my kind?"

The Krogan Scoffed.

"I can see your partners hands. They're as calloused as a Vorcha's. You on the other hand don't have so much as a scratch on you. Explain that to me."

"You didn't answer my question"

"Nor do I have to Cerberus Scu-"

Several sets of very sharp teeth went flying. When the Krogan started to recover Haruka decided to give them a taste of her left jab. This time her opponent was ready. They grabbed hold of her and gave her a bone splitting head butt. Haruka recovered first. She lifted the 200 kilogram beast of a Krogan into the air by his neck.

"You're awful observant for a bouncer. I'd say that must make you a veteran of some war or another. Now, soldier, what are your instincts telling you now?"

The Krogan Roared. Haruka's Nails dug into its throat. Orange fluid ran down both her arms as she held them aloft higher into the air.

"I've fought better worriers then you with my heart torn out, you aren't proving anything to me."

Haruka let go of the Krogan. They landed on their feet, just in time to catch Haruka's left hook. A fountain of alien blood erupted from what was left of the bouncers face. Before their body could hit the floor Haruka sent them reeling back with a centerline kick. The blood kept on pouring and Haruka refused to stop. She followed the Bouncer into the club and sent them flying back further with kick after kick. When they started to regain their balance she invaded their stance with a kick to the Quad.

"Still standing, not bad"

The Krogan wasn't just standing. They were shaking violently with rage. When they charged Haruka wasn't able to dodge without endangering Michuru. So she braced herself for impact. Sights, memories, it all came flooding back to her when the Krogan hit. Hearing her father talk to the other woman on the phone, leaning in tight for her turns on the race track, trying to run away from the monsters in the rain, meeting her savior and learning the truth, losing everything over and over, raising Hotaru with Michuru and Setsuna, and the close embraces spread between those other memories. That was Haruka's life.

Her body rag dolled. Haruka went flying into her lovers arms with such force that she nearly knocked Michuru (and the Elcor behind her) down.

Neither Haruka nor the Bouncer had any idea what was going on by this point. They'd both lost too much blood.

"If", stated Michuru, "my partner and I were half as dangerous as you think we are then haven't you just taken yourself out of the equation. I don't have a scratch on me. If I killed you then who would stop us from walking right in"

The horribly mauled Krogan let out a throaty chuckle.

"You have me there pretty lady. It wouldn't matter any way because Aria's mercenaries would still kill you. This is about honor. I can't just let enemies of my boss walk in unopposed"

"And what about friends? Maybe we just wanted to come in to have a good time or maybe we wanted to talk about business. We are dangerous, are we Aria's type of dangerous?"

At that the Bouncer unveiled a big toothless grin.

"Yes, yes you are. Please come in. Just try not to cause too much trouble."

Michuru helped Haruka entered the club arm in arm. Michuru didn't seem to mind the flecks of blood on her dress or her partners heavy breathing. She seemed perfectly content just to be with the woman she loved.

"Haruka, i'm sorry you won't be able to have much fun tonight"

"Why should you be sorry? The way I look at it I'm the luckiest person in this club. I can see three times more dancers than any one else and put together they still aren't as lovely as the woman standing next to me"

"Bold words"

"Being with you makes bold words easy. I hope that tonight I can follow them up with bold deeds"

"Bold deeds as in?"

"I'll start with the bar, then, maybe I'll take a certain fine lady onto the dance floor"

"Sounds like a plan. While you're recovering this fine lady has some one she'd like to meet"

"Oh really, and who would this some one be. A friend? A contact?"

"A stranger, I think her name is Aria"

"I bet that'll be fun. Just make sure to save the last dance for me"

Michuru gave Haruka a little smile and then they separated. Each of them had their role to play tonight. Only time would tell how this would all end. Maybe with a bang, maybe with a whimper, but either way Michuru had feeling this would make for quite the report to Crystal Tokyo.

As the music thumped in her chest the Aqua marine haired soldier couldn't help but wonder one thing. What in the galaxy was Ami playing at?

* * *

 **Codex: Light Operatives**

Long ago the Inner Senshi lived with their Queen inside of the crystal palace. There they spent their time with the royal family and protected them directly. That time is gone. Now they utilize a variety of soldiers as "leverage" in order to achieve their goals. They do not, they cannot, know true rest. For this galaxy is full of terror.

 **Uranian Operative**

Favored by Mercury

There's the best, and then there's the Uranian Operative. She's been schooled in magic, strategy, and everything related to the sword. Ever faced a Uranian Operative in single combat before? Few mortals have.

 **Venesian Shadow**

Favored by Mars

When horrors go bump in the night, the Venesian shadow comes in to make sure everything's all right. They are volunteers from the planet of love and they never give up. No mission is too big or too small for these interdimensional Daemon hunters. They take fan mail too!

 **S IV Shock Trooper**

Favored by Jupiter

They are not elite. Most of them sign up at 16. They come from high gravity worlds, abject poverty, troubled homes, and much much worse. S IV Shock troopers lack Night Flesh or any kind of serious protection.


	6. Just Sleeping

September 9th

23:48

2227

Alliance HQ. Earth.

"How many made it out?"

"Not enough Hackett, not enough"

Admiral Hackett and Rear admiral Alenko hung their heads in silence. Without warning Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard, the mother of commander Shepard, came in and put an arm around both of them. No one spoke. What was there left to say?

A marine came into the room and shot to attention upon seeing the three most important living members of the Alliance military gathered together in one room. They stayed at attention until Hannah finally let go of her comrades.

"You came to deliver a message"

"Yes Mam, from Primarch Victus"

"Why isn't this message being delivered to Councilor Lawson?"

"She's missing mam"

"Her too", muttered Hannah.

Hackett turned to face Alenko.

"I want you to tell me exactly what happened"

"Well, I was visiting the N7 ceremony when everything went dark. Half the personnel were lost once the life support systems cut out. Those of us that survived were picked off one by one. The only reason why I made it out is because an 19 year old threw themselves onto whatever was after us. They didn't scream or cry out for help. She died quietly."

"Did you catch a good look at what this thing looked like?"

"No."

Hackett turned towards Shepard.

"Sound familiar?"

" Too damn familiar."

Now Hackett turned back towards the marine.

"That message, what is it?"

"Sir, the Primarch's been caught in an ambush while patrolling Elcor space. His forces are pinned down and he is requesting immediate assistance. "

"I want a message sent back at once. Let the Turians know that the fifth fleet will be there within 4 hours"

"Yes sir"

"That will be all"

The Marine Saluted them and departed with all due haste.

Shepard, Alenko, and Hackett exchanged looks.

"Any one else feel over dressed for the apocalypse?", asked Alenko.

"I'm never over dressed", responded Shepard, "just over ranked. What I wouldn't give to be a captain again"

"Sorry about that Shepard", apologized Hackett as he got up to leave.

"God Speed Admiral", helpfully added Alenko.

"Come back to us you son of bitch. You still owe me a drink"

" After I get back I'll buy a round of drinks for the whole damn fleet"

"I'll hold you to that Admiral"

Hackett left the room.

Alenko turned towards Shepard.

"Are you two?"

"No"

"Were you?"

"Yes"

"Is Shepard?"

"Classified"

"If that information leaves this room . . ."

"How do you feel about pliers?"

"They have their uses"

"Yes, yes they do"

Shepard glanced at Alenko's trousers.

"And, while we are on the subject, have you ever considered what I can do with a toothbrush, some razor wire, and two gallons of undiluted bleach?"

"No . . ."

"Good. Now I like you Kaiden, I really do. But if you do anything that hurts my daughter again I will rip off your balls and feet your manhood to a pack of hungry Varren."

"Is that classified?"

"No, its public knowledge"

Shepard leaned over to whisper into Alenko's ear, "But that doesn't mean they'll ever find the bodies"

Hannah got up and left. In her wake she left Admiral Alenko. The admiral was currently clutching his balls protectively while contemplating many vivid possibilities.

* * *

September 10th

23: 58

2227

Oltan's Shadow, Phontes System

Mercury pulled off her mask. Everything hurt. The last 36 hours had been murder. She didn't even bother to try and remove the rest of her infiltration suit. Too much blood. It was slick and warm. Elcor had such big hearts and so many veins. It made her feel a little sick.

It wasn't getting any easier. Nonetheless she contended herself with the fact that the auxiliary blade she'd borrowed was tried and true. Her blue eyes looked up and down the blade. It was such a shame one of the human soldiers from earlier had thrown her self onto this knife. Every other kill Ami delivered had been clean. None of them struggled like she did. Ami could still remember her expression as the light faded from her eyes. Desperation, her actions were born out of desperation.

Ami could relate to that.

A fuse blew out down the hallway. Ami looked up. She wasn't dead yet. With a groan the blue haired soldier made her way forward. This ship was destroyed. The crew was eliminated.

She barely had enough strength left to stand. Ami dropped her knife. She needed that good hand to start the linking sequence. Her hand fidgeted as she put in the coordinates. With the flip of a switch, a flash of light, and several nuclear reactors worth of energy Ami made her way home.

The 12th site had been secured. Seven survivors, three witnesses, and 17 injuries sustained. If Ami weren't so close to screaming then maybe she'd be laughing. Never in her darkest dreams could she imagine such efficiency. This was exactly the result she needed. So why did she feel like she'd lost? Was that too a symptom of desperation or was she still caught in those soldiers eyes?

Ami didn't have an answer to that. And that terrified her.

* * *

September 12th

07:43

2227

Tuchanka, Krogan DMZ

Rei couldn't believe she let Mina talk her into this. For reasons she didn't want to get into she was currently standing in what looked suspiciously like a gladiator pit. Mina was across from her with metal chain. Rei had a spear.

'It'll be fun she said', commented Rei's inner narrator while she closed in for a spear thrust.

'Great way to connect with the local culture she said', rang out the unheard voice while Mina entangled half Rei's body in chains.

"And after all", she muttered aloud while Mina ensnared her, "it won't be to the death"

She fell face forward but her adversary caught her before she could kiss the earth. Mina smiled playfully while she held Rei up with one hand and grasped her spear firmly with the other. Mina tugged hard and the wood came free of Rei's grasp.

"You won't be needing that anymore"

"Was that really necessary?"

"Well I wouldn't want to be felled by any underhanded blows. Even when you're wrapped up like that you still have quite a range of movement"

Rei looked away, "This is embarrassing"

Mina leaned in closer, "and I thought I was a sore loser"

The blonde haired scout let her raven-haired partner down gently. Then she turned to face the cheering crowd. Mina loved it. She'd already started banging her chest and screaming out challenges. When no one answered her calls she started sprinting around the arena riling up the crowd. The cheers reached an ear splitting crescendo that hit poor Rei like a shot of Ryncol.

"Champion, I accept your challenge!"

The Crowd went silent. Urdnot Wrex had entered the Arena.

"Come on and cheer", called out the King, "we're about to find out who the toughest fighter on this rock is"

Rei started writhing. The crowd's roars made her ears bleed. She still couldn't use her hands to muffle the noise while she was tied up like this. All she could do was close her eyes and hope this was over quickly.

"To the Death?", Screamed Wrex

"Maybe later", screamed back Mina, "kind of got a good thing going here"

"Ah", roared back Wrex, "same here. We'll battle to first blood then. Ears don't count"

Mina nodded back. She picked up Rei's spear and charged Wrex. He hit her with a biotic throw that sent her flying into the opposite side of the Arena. The wall caught her and something warm bubbled up in her throat. She swallowed it before charging again.

This time the battle tested Krogan activated their barrier, which Mina failed to notice until he had already detonated it. She was left dangling in the air. Wrex allowed her to drop to the floor (mostly) unharmed.

Mina got up and charged him again. Wrex caught her with his fist this time. Mina somersaulted backwards from the force of the blow and tried her hardest to make sure her lips were closed tight. She swallowed again.

Wrex was walking towards her. Mina threw her spear to the side and charged him again. This time the king met her head on with a head butt. Mina stumbled backwards. She wasn't bleeding but her vision was fuzzy.

"I am Sailor Z. In the name of flap jacks I'll defeat you. Cause I'm hungry!"

Mina charged again. Wrex didn't try to stop her. She hit into his chest and fell back wards. Wrex picked Mina off the floor. He helped her find some semblance of balance while she swung wildly.

"You'll defeat me in the name of what?"

"Venus hug me Chains!"

Mina swung her hand through the air. Wrex shook his head slowly.

" This fight is a joke. To think I believed you could-"

In a blur of speed Mina slid between his guard. She delivered an uppercut that lifted Wrex off his feet. She followed that up with a flurry of punches so quick that her hands blurred together. By the time Wrex gathered his wits Venus was already hammering his chest piece to scraps. Before he could move she'd grabbed a hold of his collar. Mina kept one hand there, one hand on his chest piece and screamed. Mina lifted up the king into the air and brought him onto her knee.

The stadium fell silent.

"Congratulations", murmured Venus as blood leaked from her mouth, "You won".

* * *

September 10th

18:54

2227

Dekuuna, Phontes System

Makoto looked back and forth across the sea of wreckage. In the distance she could see movement. She moved towards it with the calculated steps of a heavy worlder. This planet was closer to Surge IV then Jupiter. Makoto had a feeling that under different circumstances she would have enjoyed visiting this world.

Acrid smoke filled her lungs. She walked around the burning remains of Turians. Most of them were pilots. A few soldiers were scattered here or there. So many of them had died of stab wounds. Did they kill themselves?

Makoto didn't know. She'd reached the only living thing in this field of decay. A young soldier. Must have been an auxiliary from one of the impoverished worlds. Her boots were much too big and her collar bones stuck out so clearly now that her uniform was torn. Her brown hair was messy. Bits of red were splattered here or there and her helmet was nowhere to be seen. The soldier peered up at Makoto with awe.

The soldiers left arm was trapped beneath some rubble. Those delicate fingers of hers were still wrapped around a worn service revolver. Her other arm lay at her side, useless, and blood was dribbling down her right wrist. The soldier struggled to move her head. Her torso twisted when she tried to get up. Her body went limp. She gasped in pain. Her eyes, brilliant forest green, stayed open.

"You can't save them"

The voice came from behind Makoto. Pluto was here.

"Was this meant to happen?"

"It's the result of the path that was chosen."

Makoto knelt down to close the eyes of this Unknown Soldier. She was still warm.

"Were there any survivors?"

"I think you already know the answer."

Makoto got up and looked off into the distance. Smoke trailed its way into the sky through out the whole vast expanse. She looked for movement and found none. With one arm she pulled the soldier beneath her from the wreckage. Then she threw them over her shoulder and walked on.

"Where are you going?"

"To bring my soldiers back home"

"You do realize that you're walking into hell"

Makoto looked back and smiled.

"No, I'm just waking up from this dream"

Rain poured down and swallowed up the flames. Night fell like a veil across the battlefield. But Makoto could still make out their faces. Her soldiers had such miraculous eyes. She'd have to tell the rest of the Scouts about them. Mina would feel jealous. But Mina had Rei and Makoto had three more fields to clear.

Makoto let go of her smile. She woke up in the rain.


	7. Probing the Gaps

May 14th

03:00

3927

Nunatak, the Edge.

Blue light still filled up the room. It played with the brown coffee that Skult had spilled everywhere. What would have been brown under Sol's light now looked more like liquid Night Flesh. It wasn't steaming any more. The floor had already sapped it of all its heat. Now the floor was just as cold as Frey. Which is why Skult had dropped the coffee in the first place. She tried handing it off to Frey but the cup slipped through her numb digits.

"Oh, I am so sorry"

Frey, who had effortlessly scooted away from the flying cup of coffee just moments ago, kept both eyes on her computer screen.

"Nothing to be done now", she sighed while typing away feverishly.

"Is there a re-reason it's so cold in here", chattered Skult.

"Oh, about that ", started the professor in her so-sorry-you-have-to-do-over time tone, "I need you to fetch a body from the freezer. Specimen 110, the one that looks like a human child"

Skult nodded obediently. She came back 45 minutes later with the requisitioned subject. Frost covered the specimen from head to toe. There was a meat hook stuck in her shoulder and small glowing green crystals around the hook. There were more crystals coming out of her gut. Skult heaved them onto the examination table with a dull thunk.

"Be careful with her", advised the professor, "she's in enough pain as is"

Skult's eyes went wide.

"She's alive!"

"Yes", responded the professor.

She kicked back in her swivel chair, stopped half a meter from the table, and the she spun herself around.

"Oh, and she looks human because she is. It's so cold in here because we don't want her to go into shock. Reviving this poor girl will take some time. The green crystals you see are actually a symbiotic in nature. They feed off small amounts of life energy while keeping her organic bits functioning. We'll get a sample of them, help her regain consciousness, and get that stupid meat hook out of her shoulder"

"Why's that there?", asked the young assistant.

"The meet hook? That's from some weak minded newly arrived merchant who found her still warm in the ice. They thought that she was some kind of shape shifting or form assimilating Xenos. So they carefully put a hook in her and took her to the meat market to be sold. Of course the Nunatak could smell that she was human. So they reported the merchant to the authorities and the authorities notified me"

"Some one was about to turn her into meat", shrieked Skult.

Frey nodded and reached for a scalpel. She took off a small piece of the crystal with it. A few extra shards of the jagged substance came free. One of them fell and drew blood. Suddenly crystal spikes shot out from the effected regions towards Frey's hand. She avoided them easily enough.

"Looks like its quite protective of its host. Serenity would be a good name for it "

"Serenity", echoed the assistant in awe of the name.

"Now, quickly Skult", cut in the professor, "go get the other assistants. We'll need all the help we can get to save this girl. Her temperature is rising. We're running out of time. "

Skult did as she was told and the professor took this time to ready their other instruments. Once they were all at the table Frey got out off her chair and took some time to really study the subject. She'd survived this long against all the odds. She'd given them a valuable sample as well. This girl was special. She just knew it. She knew it. And she was never wrong.

* * *

September 10th

19:00

2227

Omega Nebula, Omega

The Guards around the stairs didn't even try to stop Michuru. They didn't pull out there guns until she was a step or two away from Aria. When the 11 or so barrels did point at Michuru she kept her cool. She'd survived worse and been killed by better.

"So you're Aria"

"That's right"

"You run things around here?"

"I do a little more then that."

Aria's Guards chuckled.

"Now that you know a little about me why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself. You know, name, hobbies, preferred killing methods"

"Fair enough. My name is Michuru Tenoh, I've been playing the violin and swimming for the last nine hundred years or so, and if I told you how I killed then I'd be forced to give you a personal demonstration"

"Was that a threat?"

"Should it be?"

Aria's eyes flashed to Michuru's hands. Then she motioned to her men to lower their guns.

"Why'd you come here?"

"To have fun"

"With who?"

"Some one I know you'd find fascinating"

"We've just met and you are already assuming things about me Mrs. Tenoh"

"I wasn't making assumption about you personally. Allot of people find Haruka interesting. She has a way of going about things that will leave you breathless."

"Interesting, where is she now?"

"At the Bar"

"Did you send her away so you could talk to me privately?"

"That's four questions"

"You're counting?"

"Five"

"Fine, I'll play along. What do you want to know?" Oh, and that last one doesn't count"

"Your species, the Asari, would you say they're deadly?"

"We can be. Being born with biotics does have its advantages."

"Could you tell me a little more about Biotics?"

"I could"

Michuru cursed in her head. She'd have to pay attention when wording her next question. She was losing her edge.

"You aren't from around here, are you miss Tenoh?"

"I can't say I am"

"Are you Human?"

"At the moment"

Aria eyed her warily.

" Do you plan on killing me?"

"Should I?"

Aria's mouth morphed into a shark like grin.

" Your turn. Feel free to ask me as many questions as you like"

"No thanks", answered Michuru,

Aria tried not to look disappointed.

"Come back any time Miss Tenoh."

"Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you"

"The pleasure was all mine"

Michuru bowed and took her leave. She went down the stairs and snaked her way through the dance floor towards the one and only Haruka Tenoh.

"How'd it go?"

"I got a bit sloppy. My questions gave away too much"

"You, sloppy?"

Haruka cracked a grin. Imagining a sloppy Michuru was like trying to imagine a smart Usagi or a weak Makoto.

"Well my princess. I hate to impose but I think you owe me something."

"Oh really"

Haruka walked towards her and put out a hand, which Michuru accepted. The two then proceeded to waltz across the dance floor. To their surprise the music changed. The rest of the clubs denizens and dancers were at somewhat of a loss at what to do next.

Out the corner of her eye Michuru spotted a suspiciously familiar Asari waltzing with a blue suns merc.

"Looks like we aren't the only ones enjoying our selves", noted Michuru.

"You're interesting friend seems to be closing in. She'll probably ask to switch partners"

"How well do you think that would that work out?"

"For starters I think that poor girl she's dragged onto the dance floors about to pass out. There's no way she could keep up with me looking like that. Then there's the very serious problem of this song coming to an end and you did promise me the last dance"

"So then, shall we"

Haruka and Michuru waltzed their way out of the club. Once they reached the exit they departed hand in hand. On their way back to the shuttle they stopped a few times to admire the many dangerous places on Omega.

Today was a strategic miss step, and unexpected turn, and a valuable insight into the varied nature of this Galaxies culture. They'd have to thank Ami for the mission that led them here. This was, if nothing else, a night to remember.

* * *

September 14th

19:53

2227

Classified, Virginia

"Don't give up", prodded a voice in the distance.

Her muscles screamed in protest. She had an archaic pack of some kind on her back, two heavy water containers that she had to carry, and tree's all around her. It was night. She was in a forest. If she stopped moving then the dogs would catch her. If the dogs caught her then this was over. She had to lose them somehow. She had to shake them. How was she going to shake them?

Something warm touched her foot. It had passed through her damaged boots. She fell to the floor immediately and rubbed it all over the badly torn clothes she'd been given. Her badly mauled uniform stuck to her skin like plaster. But some of the fecal matter she rubbed against her uniform slipped through the tears any way.

The barks were getting louder. She leapt to her feet and grabbed her water jugs. This area was too open. If the dogs got any closer they'd be able to see her. Purple didn't fit in with much anything here. And she didn't have enough time to apply anything that could cover up the majority of her exposed skin. So she kept on running. She kept on running.

She couldn't hear the dogs any more. Her feet hit water. A stream, she didn't remember seeing a stream. The moon illuminated everything around her. She looked up. Not a cloud in sight. But there was a shadow in the stream, a shadow that didn't belong there. She took a step back despite herself. And then she dropped the water jugs. One of them fell over and hit against some rocks. It's started to spill its contents. And something started to rise from the stream.

Part of it was bloated. The thing had so many limbs. No visible mouth and no visible eyes. It didn't move with the wind. There was wind. The wind was moving the water but the thing didn't change. Ariska turned. She ran. She ran.

Her feet followed a familiar path. She still couldn't hear the dogs. What she could hear was gunfire. Unfamiliar gunfire. Alien gunfire. She kept on running. And then she couldn't feel her ankle. It went numb. She fell, and cursed her own stupidity. She still had her pack on. Must've tripped over a rock and rolled something. She got up slowly and, with some effort, got the pack off her shoulders.

Ariska limped forward. She found the dogs. They had chunks of their flesh missing. Small arms fire of some kind, the exit holes didn't look right. Because there weren't any so the rounds must have exploded inside of the poor animals.

Alien gunfire, strange shouts, and her own ragged breaths. She was breathing so hard. A figure in dark armor came into sight. It was Richards. He ran towards her. His armor was glowing red.

"We need to get out of here", they said.

She nodded.

She limped towards him. More alien gunfire erupted. She heard a horrible welting scream come from the river, and then she heard voices. Angry voices. They were screaming out things she couldn't understand. But some how one word managed to reach her, she must've heard it a dozen times, and it sounded infernal.

Suddenly the screams died. She heard a few more undecipherable words and it was quiet. She heard her breath and her own clumsy footsteps. Richard was still by her side. He didn't say a thing.

Thirty minutes into their trek they'd made it to the cabin. Its lights were still on. Ariska heard happy yapping inside. Richard turned his head a few degrees and explained while he opened the door, "They were supposed to be a surprise." And with that he headed in. She followed.

The dogs playfully jumped around her ankles. One of the bigger ones jumped up and almost knocked her over. She started to giggle when one of them started to lick a spot near the back of her ankle that torn boots, ripped clothes, and deer shit failed to protect.

"They can smell their mother on you", Richard stated evenly.

"So they can"

She leaned against the closest wall. Her ankle was still numb. It wasn't swollen yet. After a few moments of consideration she put her back to the wall. She slid down it. A tidal wave of fur hit her when she reached the floor.

"You passed the test. A shuttle will arrive in the morning. Rest. Nothing will get through that door"

The Graduate pushed herself up. She avoided the dogs warm tongues long enough to say, "That might not be enough. It came out of a shadow".

Richard scanned the apartment. "We'll keep the lights on. Anything else."

The exhausted Asari forced an pudgy fur ball away from her face yet again. " I kept on hearing this word. I think it's what the Aliens must call whatever it was. "

The destroyer tilted his head slightly.

"Daimon", she uttered as the tide of puppies finally overtook her. The chubby one struggled past her guard and lathered her face with its saliva. She couldn't fight any more. The swarm had won.


	8. Cold

"I cured all the illnesses found on this world. And yet there is one sickness that has evaded me. War. Long ago I swore an oath. Primum non nocere. Now I find myself lost in an endless mist of uncertainty. Could the cure for this sickness be worse then the disease?"

-The Mad ravings of an unknown physician, December 3887 Earth

* * *

November 4th

15:30

3927

Crystal Tokyo, Earth

Ami fell to her knees. The strike on the Salarian councilor had taken so much out of her. This week had been a blur. She'd hit STG base after STG base, and she even ran into a demon while tying up one more loose end. Apparently that was thing now.

The most surreal part occurred when a team of Shadows appeared to take out the Demon. She was there so she gave them some targeting data and it almost reminded her of the old days.

Thinking of that made Ami grin. "Back when things were simple", she murmured to herself.

The TV was still on. Some mindless advertisement for a teeth whitener was blaring in Venesian. Ami glared at the screen. As if the power and intensity of her gaze could change the channel. It didn't work. But the commercial break ended any ways and the news came on.

"Welcome back, I'm Jasper Wong and tonight we'll be looking into an incident that's only recently been opened up to the Public, the Accident at Oltan's Shadow in the Phontes system."

She recognized the reporter. Jasper Wong was the 47th most popular news anchor in Crystal Tokyo. Known acquaintance of Yuri, also known as Palla the "Asteriod" senshi. Also known to be intelligent, influential, and charismatic.

"The accident unfolded in the Milky Way 4 Galaxy, a Region of space so distant that you can only observe it with Plutonian optics or an enchanted mirror from Neptune. "

"The News anchor spooled this information out in a cool smooth tone. Her confident demeanor earned her plenty of fans. She was also quite handsome, with dark hair that was cut into a fade, and a smile that made audiences scream.

"Auxiliary ships suffered catastrophic engine failures near an Alien world. Many lives were lost, human and Alien. Now the fog of war hangs heavy over our fair city. An Alien organization known as the Council accuses Crystal Tokyo of directly carrying out attacks against members of their galactic community"

The Princess of Mercury grimaced. She cursed the Salarians for their talented information gathering. She cursed Mina for speaking to the press. She cursed herself for not being faster. If she'd just been faster. If she'd been more aggressive then maybe she wouldn't be in this situation. A rival power knew about Crystal Tokyo and the citizens of Crystal Tokyo knew about a rival power.

"May the Queen watch over us".

Another beauty advertisement blared over the speakers in Venesian. Mercury closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She still had to strike another dozen research facilities. She had to buy more time.

* * *

May 23rd

14:00

2228

Quebec, Earth

"So, I heard about what happened"

"How did you hear about it Shepard?"

"Garrus"

Miranda downed an entire bottle of vodka. She threw it to the side.

"That's not healthy"

Miranda got up. She went to the liquor cabinet. She came back with three more bottles.

" You can't drink away your problems Miranda"

Shepard activated her tactical cloak. She snatched the bottles out of Lawson's hands and uncloaked a short distance away. Miranda activated her biotics. She snatched back one of the bottles and looked the commander straight in the eye.

"This is me, Shepard. Drinking my problems away. "

"Hind sight is 20/20 Miranda. I've been declared dead before and – the alcohol helped. It helped at first. But what really got through all of it, the Bullshit and the red tape- was you and Garrus and Tali and everyone else. I'm not mad that your drinking Miranda. I'm mad that you're drinking alone."

Shepard bit off the corks of the bottles in her hand and downed them. Then she stumbled towards Miranda and said.

"I'm not going anywhere. You hear me"

"I hear you Shepard"

* * *

Novermber 10th

04:50

3927

Crystal Tokyo

"Let me through"

"Usagi's not well ami. And I think you know the reason why. She needs some time to herself. If you need to talk to some one, you can talk to me"

Mamoru Chiba, also known as King Endymion. His cluelessness helped kick off the fall of the Moon Kingdom. Of course back then, in his previous life, he was technically an enemy. As an ally he got himself captured way too many times. Now he was trying to stop her from seeing the Queen. Even though she'd been Usagi's friend back when Mamo-chan was still wearing those god-awful outfits. She remembered the turtlenecks, and those color combinations.

"She'll want me with her"

"She told me to keep you out here. And she wants you to stay out of the war"

"What war?"

Mamoru stared at her. Her eyes went wide. Her pupils dilated.

"That's just a minor skirmish. We'll make peace and then- and then"

Her words caught up with her. After everything she'd done to stall the conflict. All the blood she had on her hands, all the science facilities she'd terminated, and all nights she'd stared down at her fucking hands wondering what the hell she was doing . . . that meant nothing. They wouldn't have peace on their terms.

Ami glanced at the floor, "Interesting".

The Princess of Mercury launched herself at "King Endymion". She could call him that because he was transformed. She wasn't. Her right hand closed around his throat and she slammed him into the wall. With some effort she then lifted him up by the neck and continued to strangle him. His face turned blue. He just stared at her. After all her augmentation he was still a head taller then her, and he had no visible scars. She stared back at him. He didn't flinch. She let go. He dropped to the floor.

"I'll stay out of the war. For her."

"I'm glad to hear that Ami"

He could still talk? After she'd- Ami looked at the Mamoru sized cracks in the wall, and then she glanced back at him. Now he was back on his feet like nothing had happened. Ami thought about transforming just so she could hit him with magic and make sure he wasn't a droid.

"I hate you", declared Ami Mizuno.

"Your shoes are untied", responded Mamoru Chiba.

She paused. The sheer childishness of his ploy hit her with concussive force. She gave Mamoru a serious Bitch Please face. He gave her a shit-eating grin. She looked down, saw her untied sneakers and snarled. She looked up. He was gone. And of course the bastard actually left a blue rose on the floor where he'd been, just like what he did when he beat her at chess two centauries ago!

She picked up the rose. It matched her hair. It smelled like old Tokyo used to smell after the rain. Ami smiled ruefully at this cruel memento. "Its been 1900 years and you haven't changed. Thats why I hate you"

* * *

 **Codex: Crystal Tokyo Auxilary**

By the 22nd Centaury most of the earths nations recognized the preeminence of Neo Queen Serenity. There were dissenters, and they took to the stars. And as the humans pressed further into the void they found ancient technology that corrupted bodies and bent minds. Humans encountered the alien. Heavy casualties were sustained. The ability to quickly replace the fallen tipped the scales in humanities favor.

Their victory came at great cost. When Queen Serenity arrived at the region of space known as the to edge she found a broken people. The Queen took immediate action. She absorbed the region and started a gradual process of demilitarization. Limits were set on how many years a human could serve. She brought in the Princess of Mercury, Mizuno Ami, to create facilities for the deconstruction of combat forms and rehabilitation of their hosts. In her great wisdom the Queen also opened up the region to colonization by loyal citizens from the Sol system. On many planets they arrived in sufficient numbers to diffuse the culture of the original colonists.

Now the worlds that once belonged to the disloyal separatists produce a small number of auxiliary units to assist Crystal Tokyo in pursuing its regional interests. There are currently 35 million combat capable personnel in the auxiliary.

 **Small Arms of the Auxilary**

 **XI-91** \- Compact dual fed bullpup magnetic accelerator carbine. Three rates of fire, 100 round capacity, 4.9 mm steel bullets. Its primary fire mode, anti-personal/anti-material, has a fire rate of 550 rpm. The secondary fire mode achieves a higher fire rate of 1,200 rpm with a small recoil reduction by lowering the muzzle velocity to 760 meters per second. Its third fire mode, suppressed, brings the muzzle velocity down to 320 m/s and reduces the rate of fire to 400 rounds per minute. The XI-91 uses electronic sights linked up to an auxiliary soldiers visor. It is a standard issue weapon.

 **Revolver Auto .44 1C** \- Fully automatic 7 round .44 HESH standard issue service revolver. The service revolvers rate of fire is close to 500 rpm. Its high explosive squash head rounds give the weapon its stopping power. Like a number of other weapons designed 1700 years ago it uses iron sights. The Revolver .44 1C is a standard issue weapon.

 **XI-6-** Magnetic Accelerator rifle equipped with a two round 25mm under barrel fully automatic grenade launcher. Its 14.5 mm copper-jacketed steel core round leaves the barrel at velocity of 1,810 meters per second. The weapons 725 cyclic rate of fire coupled with its 12 round magazine limits its ability to maintain fire superiority. It uses primitive electronic sights that link up to an auxiliary soldiers visor. It is a standard issue weapon, used in the grenadier role.

 **Khad** \- A Recoilless 30 mm squad based Designated marksmen revolver Auto canon that uses an electronic scope. The weapon weighs 38 kg unloaded, its fed by an 8 round magazine, and its ammo is heavy. It is a standard issue weapon, used in the DMR role.

 **Maveryk** \- Reusable shoulder launched anti-material launcher. Its warhead protrudes out of the 80 mm launch tube. The Maveryk is a somewhat touchy weapon since its warhead is actually an sawed off unstable magnetic accelerator that was discontinued. Interestingly enough the 80 mm rocket launcher that the Maveryk was developed from was phased out due to the insufficient payload of its original warhead. The Maveryk gives credence to the idea that two wrongs do make a right. It is a (dangerously volatile) standard issue weapon that's used in the Anti-material role.

 **S IV Machete** \- Standard issue close quarters weapon. Its 45 cm blade is made out of low grade shock resistant steel. Effectiveness is reduced by enemy armor. So if their blade can't cut through something then Auxilary may resort to bashing the blade into it while their buddy preps a Maveryk. Results may vary.

 **Vehicles of the Auxiliary**

 **Heavy Tan** **k** \- The Turret less warfighter of old that's still rocking a 90 mm magnetic accelerator in the age of magic. Its engine, Electric armor, and main gun all draw their power from the same power supply. So a commander has to weigh their priorities. Charging up a bunker busting shot with 95% of the vehicles charge can deliver a shot that'll harm a heavily shielded craft. Pouring power into the engine lets the tank back pedal at 42 km/h through heavy foliage. Even a half decent amount of charge set to the Electric Armor lets the Heavy tank reduce the effect of plasma or vaporize an incoming kinetic round. Its physical armor is pretty thin and mechanically speaking its no masterpiece. Just a twenty six ton tank with a hull mounted gun that's had some pretty good crews over the last thousand years.

 **Wren** \- Most of the Auxiliaries equipment was put through its paces during the Fight for Dorcene, a habitable world with some dark secrets. In that conflict the enemy owned the skies and everything in orbit. Only two human craft could challenge their dominance. One was the peak of human achievement, the SA8-R orbital fighter. The other was the Wren. A tiny tilt jet aircraft that could jerk around the battlefield, draw fire from everything, and then do a barrel role through a hailstorm of plasma to ruin somebodies day. Plenty of pilots died pulling of stunts like that. Opening up on heavily shielded opponents with an outdated 30 militmeter autocanon and four AIM-9S missiles was a gamble. It was a risk. It's the kind of thing that kept the war going until Dorcene and everything in orbit could be taken out by a Storm of atomic fire.

 **SA8-R** \- Six nuclear ramjets engines, four 76 mm magnetic accelerator cannons, and an rugged titanium airframe. It was supposed to be enough. When the Advanced Augment had to be dropped into position they called upon the SA8-R. When enemy ships came into Orbit they still called upon the SA8-R. The Pilots would come in at Mach 4. They'd fire their cannons. They'd keep on accelerating and they'd try to fire their cannons again before everything went to black. A nuclear powered aircraft crashed into the alien ship at Mach 7 with four overcharged MAC guns. It was enough.


	9. Dark Moon

May 31st

04:44

2228

Lorek, Batarian Space.

Jalnor had become a fortress. Anti Air defenses were scattered over every other skyscraper, and the Krogan had sent in reinforcements to back up the Batarian defenses. The very best of Clan Gatog was holed up in the university. Experimental Salarian designed power armor was issued to the troops at all the entrances. When the Sorceress arrived it all counted for naught.

She appeared in the music hall. Where scientists were still trying to pick apart the torn remains of alien technology. And as they looked up at Queen Nehellenia they recognized her as something new. She looked human. Except for her ears. They were pointy. Her eyes were purple, her hair was purple, and most of her dress was black. The Queen wasn't standing in the music hall. She was hovering above it. Peering at the advanced instruments with curiosity.

A young scientist stared up at the Queen with an equal measure of curiosity. All four of her eyes were locked upon this remarkable sight. Hatice, the science teams xenobiologist was floored by how human like this alien was.

"Can we help you?"

Queen Nehellenia glided towards the scientist who spoke. With absolute grace she landed ever so close to this stranger. Her words were still unintelligible but the wise Queen could read the sentiment behind them. Slowly, gently, Nehllenia placed one hand around the scientist's waist and another over her heart.

Hatice slid into a deep sleep. Fragments, dreams, and nightmares flooded her consciousness. She remembered all her old aspirations. Back when she wanted to be a soldier. So she could be strong and fight back the Reapers. Like . . . like Shepard. When she was young she wanted to be just like Shepard. The propaganda vids they'd cycle on monitors were burnt into her memory. She wanted to be strong, and to save people. After the war she still wanted to save people. That was her dream. That's why she studied xenobiology. So she could become a doctor who could help everyone.

The scientist opened her eyes. She almost fell over when the Alien finally let go of her. They were close. Close enough for her to tell that the alien was warm blooded. Just like a human. She smelled pleasant. Like a flower she bought at a shop in new London.

As strangers they peered into each other's eyes, still unsure of what to make of the other. In the Midst of this tyranny of silence the ancient Monarch resolved to take action.

Now that the young lady recovered from her slumber Queen Nehellenia took a step back, and considered what she'd seen. There were so many images to sort through. And giving a definite sense of meaning to all the words was difficult. Thankfully the good Queen had plenty of experience to draw from. So after a considerable pause she was able to piece something together.

"Please, take me to your Ruler"

* * *

June 5th

13:00

2228

Tuchanka, Krogan Space

"See anything?"

One Lady of Fire present. Urban Camouflage applied to her armor for the operation. She's a veteran of the Coronis Campaign. Non-Psychic. Armed with experimental 9 mm machine gun. Currently pressed against the wall of a supposedly secure location.

"Walls too thick"

Four Bravo range Mercurians Present. One, Sanguine augment pressed against the wall. She's frowning at the moment. Her superior senses cannot be brought to bear. Her three siblings are right behind her. They're all Raider pattern augments. Two sisters and one brother, all using Icaria armor with a K-11 bolt action carbine in hand. She was the odd one out. The Primaris cleared her for Engylion armor, and that cleared the way for the fearsome high capacity Personnel defense weapon she carried in her hands.

The Lady of Fire scowled, "Salt Heads, you ready?"

A voice crackled to life. There was some static. Tier II Magic interfering with communications, "Affirmative. Our Sensors detect seven life forms below us, plus Queen Nehellenia. This is the place"

"Good", whispered the Lady of Fire over the Comms, "Two minutes till the attack is prophesized to take place. Shoot to kill"

* * *

June 5th

13:03

2228

Tuchanka, Krogan Space

"I'm Glad we can finally-"

Urdnot Bakara was interrupted by an interdimensional breach. Something bleak and horrible writhed its way from the darkness. This alarmed the Batarian delegation, and annoyed Queen Nehellenia. Her right hand was raised when the Entity born of Nightmares made its presence known.

"Your insolence will be punished", remarked the Ruler of the Dark moon.

Streaks of dark lighting impacted the thing with no name. Its many gaping maws widened, and it screamed. The soul rending sound paralyzed the Batarians. Their blood ran cold and they fell one by one. Every one of the things long pale limbs fidgeted. The Shadow beneath it vanished.

"Die", ordered the Queen.

Just then a braching charge punched an elephant sized hole in the wall behind this being. A Krogan sized figure barreled towards the abomination. Their Meter long blade skewered the beast. Four more unknown fighters threw themselves into the room guns blazing. Suddenly a massive chunk of celling fell down on the beast. The gunfire stopped. Nine figures dropped down from above.

Dark blue armor, heat still rising from their fight packs, Neptune Marines had arrived. Rubble started to move. The Lady of Fire liberated herself from the wreckage. Her blade was still buried in the beast. She pulled it free. The wreckage moved again. One of the pale things appendages reached out towards Urdnot Bakara.

There was a sudden flash of bright light. The unmistakable shriek of an Urannian Particle rifle tore the atmosphere. After the round impacted there was silence. Real space righted itself, and the last Neptune Marine dropped down.

"Target Eliminated"

* * *

November 25th

16:44

3927

Crystal Tokyo

Mamoru Chiba was taking a bubble bath. And Ami Mizuno just kicked down the bloody door. She crossed her arms, she smiled triumphantly, and Mamoru Chiba was still naked.

"There will be no war"

"What makes you say that Ami?", responded the some how not freaking out tall handsome dark haired man.

"The Primaris of my world interrupted an would be attack on two key figures. And since the council doesn't know who or what has been targeting them we can look like the heroes"

"Until they find out what you've done"

"If- if they find out what I've done, and they won't"

Queen Serenities trophy husband stood up, stepped out of the tub, and dried him self off with a towel. Doctor Mizuno, the physician that cured all diseases on earth, put a hand to her face. The good doctor was experiencing a nosebleed. Mr. Chiba didn't seem to notice.

"That's an very interesting theory Ami. But, as a good scientist, you should probably check it for Bias. "

Ami Mizuno glared at him as he walked away. She glared at his pecs, and his abs, and his nice legs. And his fine ass.

Mamoru Chiba did have a fine ass.

* * *

Mercurian Pact Infantry and Cursory Information

Mercurian Doctrine stresses the importance of the preemptive strike as well as the necessity of reshaping the battlefield to suit your allies strengths and exploit your enemies weaknesses.

Mercury is the only planet on Sol that still uses conscription. They also have one of the smallest militaries in Sol. Barely beating out the nascent Neo Moon kingdom in pure numbers. That's because over 95% of their population is rated as ineligible due to either: A. being in school, B. pursuing research of some kind, C. Being employed in an critical occupation, or D. Scoring high enough on civics assessment test.

Mercurian Civic Improvement Program:

When a Mercurian reaches their fourth year they take a very special test. Their civic assessment test. It scores them based on intellect and temperament. Citizens are rated on a scale of A to D. Individuals that receive an A, who make up about 70 to 80% of the population, are set. They receive a free education and they are exempt from the draft.

Bravo- A Mercurian who scores into the B range receives Augmentation to help them become a productive citizen. To pay back on this heavy investment B range citizens have to perform a certain amount of service. Usually by working at a government run fast food restaurant, gas station, or childcare facility. B range citizens are eligible for the draft.

Charlie- The Mercurian who scores into the C range is also eligible for the draft. They make up the bulk of Mercurian conscripts. C range Mercurian receive a Cognis advanced intelligence implant. This is a synthetic intelligence that partners with the Charlie range individual. It levels out their personality. Which is important. A Mercurian without her composure is hardly an Mercurian at all.

Delta- Mercurians who score into the D range are pitied. Some of them are conscripted. Others join the military of their own volition. Most of their lives they'll be isolated. The Government sends them to boarding schools that teach the most dangerous of kinds of science, Magic. Delta range Mercurians are "lost" all the time.

Bravo Augment Patterns:

Khroma Template (Venom) - This form of augmentation is usually given to insecure Mercurians. It integrates its recipient with a pair of Infrared sensitive glasses, ammonia sensing nose piercings, and their neurotoxin secreting tongue piercings. Different tactical modules can be snapped onto her glasses. The Tactical Analysis module is the most popular.

Sanguine Template (Healer) - Typically assigned to energetic Mercurians with an sunny disposition. The Sanguine Template set requires several invasive brain surgeries to sync their minds with special issue contact lenses, and the synthetic fangs that replace their wisdom teeth. Her lenses let her see blood move through veins. Her cute little fangs let her inject an numbing agent into soft tissue. The relatively subdued nature of Sanguine modification lets her pass for a baseline Mercurian.

Raider Template (Survivor) - Well suited to adventurous Mercurian's with a high tolerance for pain. The Raider Augment set is made out of a nanobot injection to the thyroid gland, an second nervous system made out of durable synthetic fibers, and a bone crushing pharyngeal jaw. The psycho conditioning a Bravo receives gives her a great deal of resiliency. That, combined with the smooth healing properties of Raider Augmentation, has given rise to the myth Raiders are indestructible. They aren't. If you cut a raider, she bleeds.

Charger Template (Assurance)- Given to Mercurians with malicious tendencies. Involves the attachment of recycled artificial muscle to her back, shoulders, and Latissimus dorsi. Her lowermost floating ribs have been removed and replaced with fused synthetic plate that contains small amounts of Venesian dark glass. She carries instruments which detect both metal objects and electrical currents. So the construct is not safe from her. Furthermore she's been given replaceable metallic canines that lie behind her original teeth. These secrete a compound thats completely harmless to its host, and deadly to the alien.

Blithe Template (Mistletoe)- Often assigned to overly Idealistic Mercurians. This form of augmentation replaces their canines with heavy metal synthetic fangs that can inject a powerful numbing agent into soft tissue. Synthetic muscle is added to her jaw and hip flexors. Her mind is surgically linked to primitive thermo receptors within her tongue.

Mercurian Armor:

Infiltration Suit- An advanced evolution of the soft synthetic Musculoneural layer found in the Icarian scout suit. It was created to fulfill a demand and its development attracted the attention of Lady Mercury herself. After a month or so of her personal oversight the suit was ready for limited production. She radically improved the synthetic nerve system of the suit using information gleaned from the Terran Lamprey. This created a suit that possesses a "brain" without the need for a Cognis. She also boosted the density of its synthetic muscle tissue, and she introduced cell like nano hives that could be embedded into the suit to allow for repair and micro fabrication. This coupled with some advances that cannot be disclosed gave birth to the modern infiltration suit. It has been issued to allied forces across the stars. The Infiltration Suit brings darkness to make room for the light.

H-116- The pressurized suit that most Mercurian soldiers will use. It is, for the most part, made out of silicon rich aluminum. The chest area is up armored with a heavy metal module that consists of depleted uranium encased by wrought iron with a 1.6 mm parylene based nano composite coating. The suit protects against low velocity shrapnel and some airborne toxins.

Englyion- Mercurian Heavy Assault Suit. It uses the same frame as the H-116. The shell of the suit is composed of the same silicon rich Aluminum. And it has the same heavy metal chest module. Underneath that the Englyion stores a spall liner, synthetic nerves, synthetic muscle bundles, a suit Cognis, and a primitive life support system that keeps its pilot alive in the vacuum of space. The Englyion suit also carries two shoulder pylon mounted Venesian dark glass mine dischargers. When a Venesian dark glass mine goes off it creates an dampened space where weak psychics can't bring their reality warping powers to bear. The Englyion suit is standard issue for Delta range soldiers. Its issued to other Mercurians as needed.

Icaria- Its the "light" option for Mercurian soldiers even though it out weighs the H-116. Two main variants of the Icaria exist, and both of them are equipped with flight packs for tactical mobility. The goofy looking pressurized hard suit version is colloquially known as the "Bubble head" suit. It resembles the H-116, however its chest is up armored with a ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene breast plate in place of the Heavy metal module and it uses thermosetting polymers in place of silicon rich aluminum for its construction. This, coupled with the life support system found in the "Bubble head" version of the suit lets the pressurized version of the Icaria perform well in Venesian esque environments. The Scout version of Icaria incorporates soft and hard components. Its soft component is a skin tight synthetic-muscle and synthetic nerve hybrid layer that covers the user from their neck down. This soft layer syncs itself to the users movements. The suits petite ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene helmet, segmented titanium link nape protecter, short sleeved brigandine-blouse, short desert pattern skirt, tactical gloves, and desert pattern boots cover up most of the hybrid layer. If the Scout version of the Icaria is fitted with a rebreather and a life support module it can operate in Venesian esque environments.

Mercurian Small Arms:

K2 Rail Gun- A mechanically simple rail gun that accelerates molten Iron - Sulphur alloys at 1.6 km/s. It weights 30.5 kilograms. Its popular with young recruits. It is produced in truly massive numbers. The K2 was built with reliability in mind. Every front line combatant knows that if a fresh hot pack goes in then by the Queen a K2 will still shoot. Its a weapon that Mercurian's have come to trust.

K11 Sani - A rugged bolt action carbine. Its fed by a 4 round steel box magazine that carries 10.36 mm rounds. Its effective armor piercing round is designed for medium to short range engagements. The weapons heavy quick change barrels come with a suppressor built into them. It makes the bolt action carbine sound like a smaller caliber sniper rifle. This quirk combined with the weapons reliable armor piercing ammunition keeps the carbine in service.

A73- Simple Electric Ignition Submachine gun. The weapons slow 600 rpm rate of fire makes it easily controllable. It fires 11.43 mm short case less bullets, and uses a 50 round staggered row box magazine. Towards the front of the weapon the A73 mounts a 22.2 mm pump action under barrel shotgun that fires 95 grain 10.8 mm tungsten pellets. This smooth bore weapon boosts the close quarter effectiveness of the A73. If a 11.43 mm bullet doesn't stop a charging enemy then 20 pellets of Fuck You just might.

M kPDW - Mercurian short Personal Defense Weapon. The M kPDW uses a heavy 20 round polymer magazine. Its chambered for the unconventional 9-10.36 mm hyper velocity round. The 9-10.36 mm round is made out of a 10.36 mm case necked down to a martian 9mm bullet. This Chimera round possesses remarkable stopping power. The M kPDW has recently undergone some minor improvements. Its rate of fire has got up from 880 to 1,050 rpm. An 25 mm grenade launcher that fires High explosive or Venesian dark glass rounds has been integrated into the weapon system. Some Mercurian troopers tape three 20 round magazines together to speed up reloading. This spurred the creation of a limited issue 30 round magazine. Some Englyion users have taken to taping three of these magazines together. Rumor has it that a belt fed variant of the M kPDW is in the works.

M kG81 - The Mercurian Squad Support weapon. Its a semi-automatic magnetic accelerator that fires the ubiquitous Venesian 15.5 mm round. The weapon accelerates this round to 777 m/s , and actively tracks targets that come into its field of view. It uses the same 26 round magazine as the Venesian duster. The weapon is top fed. Theres a variable zoom electric camera at the front of the magnetic accelerator rifle that links up an electronic display behind the magazine. Mercurian techno-script etching adorns the metal to either side of this display. It grants the electronics a modicum of resistance to Magical interference. Monitor may still explode in the presence of an unagreeable sailor scout.

FmW4 Faust - Mercurian incendiary weapon. The 43.7 kilogram system carries 25 liters of semi ferrous thick fluid that it can launch 60 meters from its user. The current fuel mixture, which may or may not be slightly radioactive, is known to be a great deal less effective then the earlier mixtures of Mercurian fire. In the face of an ever shrinking material budget the FmW4 Faust is a weapon of the times. Expendable and deadly, like the mortals who must wield it.

Martian Naval Infantry:

Neptune, the New Moon, and Terra posses an uniquely versatile kind of worrier that belongs to a distinct service branch. The Marine. The Martian Navy, for all its might, does not posses Marines. Their Navy is not the Largest in Sol. Jupiters Navy holds that honor. Their navy is not the best equipped in Sol. The Terran Navy holds that honor. Its not the best trained in Sol. That honor belongs to the Uranians. The Martian Navy has the highest casualty rate in all of Sol. They hold that Honor. They use Naval Infantry.

Martian Skraeja- Technical Specialists who do everything. They conduct special operations, they resupply Grunts, they run com networks, they flying everything, they drive everything, they care for the wounded, they maintain equipment, they make up 40% of the Martian navy, and they wear less armor then every one else. They receive an petite composite helmet with camouflaged clothes accompanied by a Wyvern skin cloak .Thats Skraeja grade protection. Training starts at 14. They get two years at the academy. At graduation they earn the bloody cloak and then they're fed into Navy.

Martian Lady of Fire- Martian equivalent of officers. Training doesn't start till they are 28. Get sent to the academy for four years. The title and responsibility that comes with the identity Lady of Fire usually falls upon the first born daughter. However if she is unable or willing to take this path then it can fall upon a younger sibling of any gender. The armor they wear is simple and it is cheap. It relies on Heat resistant ceramic, mild steel, servo enhanced artificial muscle fibers, and faith. Sisters forge their own plating and sew in their suits muscle bundles by hand. The blade they carry is heavy. Many of them are ancient, dating back to the 26th century. It is short. A mere meter in length. These blades are made of Tungsten carbide. A material that ancient earthlings used in the production of ball point pens. When a Lady of Fire is ready to leave the Academy she will seek out a Wyvern to slay, as one does. And upon completion of such a task they may join the ranks of the Martian Navy to fight against all terrors that would threaten the stability of Crystal Tokyo.

Martian Grunt- Cannon fodder. Most are armed with a 9.5 x 50 mm rifle, recurve bow, 20 gauge incendiary pistol, two hatchets, six 50 mm High Explosive grenades, two 50 mm Smoke grenades, and an short knife with a 400mm tungsten carbide blade. Grunts are also given a mild steel breast plate, two small mild steel shoulder pads, and a composite helmet with a synthetic sapphire glass visor. The 4mm plate of their breast plate, 2mm plate of their shoulder pads, and small ceramic based helmet offer little protection against the weapons wielded by humanities foes. It should also be mentioned that their primary armament, the 9.5 mm rifle, isn't all that effective past 550 meters due its mediocre active infrared scope. They make up the other 40% of the Martian Navy.

Neptune Operators:

Neptune Marine- Equipped with a Minerva tactical flight pack to keep up with Uranian combat forces. They wear pressurized titanium alloy suits with two hard points on the upper chest piece. These hard points can mount extremely powerful sensors, extra armor modules, and compact anti-material weaponry. The suits are self sealing. They also carry a primitive emergency care system that pumps their user up with combat drugs and prevents death by exsanguination. Neptune Marines carry a variety of weapons. A favorite is the ancient 12.7 x 99 mm Machine gun since its a great deal lighter then the Particle rifles favored by their Uranian contemporaries. In the Marksmen role they'll use stripped down versions of the Particle rifle with reduced power. They'll also carry 37 mm coil guns into combat for low priority armored targets. For up close and personal work the Marines can draw their Silicon nitride survival knife. Neptune Marines often operate in 10 women teams called sections. Sections are typically attached to a larger Uranian or Mercurian force. The Uranian Military believes the Neptune Marine is roughly equivalent to an Sky Trooper. The Mercurian military classifies the Neptune Marine as a dangerously volatile asset.

Neptune Special Tactics Personnel- Elite soldiers of the Neptune Air Forces. They are tasked with infiltration, exfiltration, and various psychological warfare functions. To keep up with the Uranian Valkyrie, her contemporary and erstwhile rival, she is equipped with a Pallas sustained flight pack. To stay agile on the battle field Neptune Special Tactics Personnel use the 30 x 90mm low velocity auto cannon for close range targets and the 12.7 x 99 mm Machine gun equipped with a x 10 variable scope for medium range targets. Both these weapons use High-Explosive incendiary rounds for anti material work. Neptune Special Tactics Personnel also carry a upsized "Quick Mercy" variant of the Neptune Marine Silicon nitride survival knife. Its mechanized rotating teeth are made to cut through the reactive armor of Special Tactics Personnel. Which interestingly enough is inspired by the regenerative properties found in the Hydra, Neptune's Super Predator. And the suits warm shifting exterior makes it eerily reminiscent of a Mammalian nocturnal super predator found on Mercury. According to Neptune Inter-Services Intelligence research 9 out of 10 Mercurian's they polled would appreciate a suit redesign for Special Tactics Personnel.

Neptune Territorial Ranger- Trained military psychics who fight against enemies that hopelessly outclass them. The Neptune Territorial Navy can't train them fast enough. They can't replace the fallen quick enough. Their armor might have something to do with the abominable causality rates. Its a "soft" suit. The armored component is a multi-layer flame resistant skin that has 2 mm thick galvanized steel scales embedded into it. This allows for close fitting, albeit heavy, suit that Neptune Territorial Rangers can operate in thanks to their remarkable physicality and willingness to use their psychic abilities for mundane applications. On top of their protection deficit the Territorial Ranger faces a mobility deficit. They cary a equipped with a rudimentary Radar Frequency Interferometer pack instead of a flight pack. If theres Radar on the battlefield a Territorial Ranger will detect it, right before they get blown to smithereens by enemy fire.


	10. Resonance

Five

The Crystal palace was beautiful. It was breath taking. Nothing in all the galaxy could compare to its wonder. At least in this dimension. At least in this dimension . . . it was strange to make such a distinction. At least, that's what she thought. What she was thinking. When she heard the strangest sound. Ami Mizuno, doctor to Queen Serenity, looked up. She peaked past the piles of dirty medical equipment and the piles of unread ancient texts. Past the shattered mirror that granted her a ghastly glimpse at her scarred features. Past the TV set and the cluster of dusty old monitors. And she saw, standing there dumb struck towards the epicenter of clutter, an familiar face.

"Usagi?"

There wasn't an response.

An Usagi Tsukino was present. She was roughly 50 meters south east of Doctor Mizuno's current position. Hands shaking, like leaves in the breeze. Eyes frozen in place. Mouth half open. And she had that mark on her head. The mark she always had. The half crescent moon, that she . . . no there must have been a time when she didn't have that mark. Back in Tokyo, maybe, and curiously enough she wasn't wearing her royal dress.

"Ami?"

There was fear in this Usagi's voice. Like she was hoping the fine doctor in front of her wouldn't respond. Perhaps she thought this was a dream. That if she closed her eyes and wished really hard then she could wake up. Were it so easy.

There wasn't an immediate response to Usagi's inquiry. Instead Ami walked towards her slowly. The good doctor was a head taller then the Ami this Usagi was supposed to know. Jagged scars marred her face, and her eyes glinted in the light. Like some kind of nocturnal predator, and she moved like a Mina should move when she was trying to pull a prank. With implied stealth and brief movements of unexpected speed that most people couldn't catch. Mina could do it because she was Mina. But Ami, the Ami this Usagi recalled, was human. She was supposed to be human.

"Are you feeling all right?", Ami touched Usagi's hand. It was cold. She was here. She was really here. Good, not a hallucination. Ami hated the hallucinations. And all the voices. And the things they said, and screamed, and whispered, and- Usagi was here.

"Ami?", this Usagi repeated.

Doctor Mizuno narrowed her eyes. She could smell copper in the air. And she glanced down at "Usagi's" hand. Two fingers too many.

"An remarkably life like recreation", the doctor noted, "do you know that you are a construct?"

"Ami what do you-"

A construct loaded with old memories. That would explain the shock and the surprise. It would explain the lack of a magical aura. The lack of decay. Must be new- the doctor reasoned.

Doctor Mizuno laughed. She glanced at bit of broken mirror in the corner. She could see some of her own surgical scars. Tracing up and down her altered frame. This "Usagi" was probably scared. Best put that fear to rest. Terrified patients are troublesome patients.

"Nothing . . . nothing. Please, have a seat"

The Tsukino in the room looked around. There were no chairs. She pushed herself up onto a desk. And then fell to the floor in a convulsing heap. Her cybernetics were malfunctioning. As her body writhed the culprit looked down at her with pity.

"Disengage", Doctor Mizuno ordered.

The attack protocols she'd silently activated came to a screeching halt. Now that the subject was unconscious doctor Mizuno could start her in depth scans.

Clone. Some flawed components. No star seed present- alien origin. DNA shows multiple errors. Human DNA hybridized with similar equivalent. Subject given advanced cybernetics, quality of cybernetics superior to quality of organic components, suggests lack of experience with organic components.

"Fixing you won't be easy", muttered the doctor, "tracking down whoever created you . . .".

Doctor Mizuno reached towards the subjects dress and tore off a piece of it. She balled her hand into a fist and crushed the small externally isolated bug that was sewn into the fabric.

" will be a pleasure"

-)-

It was moist in the cellar. Like a lovers kiss. There wasn't allot of furniture. But there was a chair, and a table, and his boyfriends computer stacked up on the table. Marc's grandparents gave it to him when he was young. The monitor still worked. It was made by a brand Amin didn't recognize. The last letter had chipped off when his revolver misfired so it now said Noki.

Either way it worked. Now the parts in the actual computer – that had given him some trouble. First he had to get them working, and then he had to work out a way to transfer data that would take advantage of the systems age while still letting it transfer to something. And then he still had to go through the trouble of covering up his activity. He had three different degrees and none of them had a thing to do with computing. It's not like bakers are known for their computer skills either. It was a miracle- and absolute thing of beauty- that some old men were actually into collecting this kind of stuff. Sure he still stood out. But it could be worse.

Drip-drip- Amin looked up. The celling was leaking again. He'd have to melt another condom to seal up the plastic pipe. He was running low on condoms. Pretty soon he might not be able to fuck. Not that he had time for such necessities. His colleague was demanding. Always demanding results for the good of humanity or something.

The well-muscled young lad scoffed at that. For the good of humanity? Who did they think that they were kidding? You'd have to be stoned out of your mind not to remember what Cerberus did in the last war. They taught it in schools and quizzed you on the numbers. So many numbers. So many human lives

You'd have to be a fool or desperate to join Cerberus now. Amin joined when he was the former and now he stayed with them because he was the latter.

Drip-drip- a leak in a new place. Marc's grand parents would loose their place soon. And Marc's sister needed medication. Amin would run out of condoms sooner or later. But no matter what happened he would always be fucked.

With a sigh Amin reached for the manila package set on the table. In sharpie some one had scrawled – Dirty Porn Do Not Open- and Marc's grandparents had definitely seen it. That was beyond fixing now. Amin pulled out his knife and neatly opened the thing. He shook it violently. A floppy disk fell out.

"Shit"

Did they really think he'd be able to read this thing? He'd have to go to a specialty store and spend more money. The lights flickered. Usually when they did that Amin heard a sound. Tic-tic- but now he heard nothing.

His face impacted the computer screen. His long hawkish nose compacted with a wet crunch. The computer screen was fine. Blood was coming down hard, harder then he went down on Marc last week. Amin grinned at his own wit. He let loose a torrent of biotic energy. His attacker went flying back, the table shook, and water pipes shattered.

Amin spun around quick as he could. His attacker was smiling. They were as tall as him. With dark blue hair, pale skin, and plenty of scars. Deep sunken eyes with dark spots underneath stared at him from across the room. They looked hungry.

They were on him before he could shoot them. They caught his hand mid draw. He tried to jerk it up. But their grip was like steel. Moving was impossible. Tik-tik- the lights flickered. He kicked them between the legs. It was no good. They didn't have balls to break.

"Your work is quite sloppy", they told him, and perhaps he would have agreed were they not at this very moment trying to kill one another.

He went for his knife and they head butted him. Crack- he hit the floor. Luke warm water was everywhere. The cellar was flooding. And he knew that some one must have been taking a shower a few moments ago. That was unfortunate.

"I want you to tell me everything"

He tried to get up. And then a heel pressed down on his left leg. Crack-crack- something broke.

"You can whisper it if you like. I'll hear you"

Amin just smiled. He'd invested in some life insurance a month ago. It wasn't much but- at least some one could to fix the lights after this stranger killed him. Maybe the pipes too.

"How about you fuck yourself"

The lights went out without making a sound.

-(-

Three

Shepard arrived at the New Citdael three hours ago. Now she was in the upgraded council chambers. Today the councilors had gathered in person, and for some reason she had to be here too. She stood at the lower area of the room with her arms crossed. She was painfully aware of the newly installed stasis field generators beneath her feat. She looked up at the new councilors, trying to get a read on which of them would probably try to freeze her first. Right now her money was on the new Turian councilor, Quentius. She had a bad track record with turians in power. Sure, she got along Sparatus in the end. But that was after a lot of shit. It took the galaxy ending for them to get on good terms.

Then there was the new Asari councilor. Irissa, she nodded to Shepard and Shepard nodded back. Shepard heard that during the reaper war she took a pragmatic approach towards fighting against the enemy. Scorched earth. After the war some investigations were launched into the morality of her choices, and then dropped. She saved lives. She made tough choices. She had access to sources that could dig up the skeletons in your closet.

The Salarian councilor avoided Shepards gaze, and in the middle of all this was Goyle. Anita Goyle. The living legend. Here, in the flesh. Shepard stared at her. She stared back. They looked away at the exact same time. When Baraka started talking.

"Commander, are you aware of what we now face?"

"Demons, Brain washed rogue agents, Cerberus remnants, tortured post humans, and judging by what just got released on the extranet a massive post human empire"

"An astute observation commander", noted the Salarian councilor.

Shepard glanced at him. Half his face was covered in scars. He still hadn't mentioned his name yet. Her gaze resettled on Councilor Goyle.

"Shepard, I'll be blunt- we're out of our depth here. The entity known as crystal Tokyo could destabilize all of council space. A few disparate organizations within their hierarchy are searching for peace. They want us to send some one to represent us. And after considerable debate . . ."

"You chose me"

"As if we could choose any one else", commented Tali vas Normandy.

"Should you fail", cautioned the Asari councilor Irissa, "the next thing we send in will be an invasion fleet. "

"The fate of the galaxy is in your hands commander", intoned the Salarian Councilor.

"I'll do my best", promised Comander Shepard the infiltrator and living personification of collateral damage.

With that the commander turned, and headed out of the room. She went through the gauntlet of upgraded security. Past over a hundred C-sec personel and what looked like mass accelerator auto cannons of Turian design. She was a Spectre and they still stopped her at every single checkpoint.

"Damn Saren protocols", she muttered under her breath as yet another scanner checked her armor. And as she was about to leave another barrier linked to a Breathalyzer program blocked her exit, 'damn Shepard Protocols' she cursed internally. The measure came out to a 10.0 blood alcohol level.

"Delegate justice responsibly", an V.I. told her, and then she was finally free. Free to wander the vast expanse that was the New Citadel for what could be the last time. Free to get wasted. She went to the bar. Hopefully Taylor would be there. He still owed her a drink.

-)-

Two

"We must reboot all the systems", Roared the Cereburus Scientist, "and make sure they are really dead this time. I will not tolerate any more interruptions on this god forsaken rock in this accursed dimension"

The lighting here was all wrong. How could anyone work in these conditions? It was so cold. Everything had gone wrong. This was supposed to be an easy target. Nice, isolated, out of crystal Tokyo's sight while still within striking range of that place. It was supposed to be the perfect base of operations. But the locals proved impervious to all forms of Fell persuasion. And their "guides" had said this facility would be lightly guarded. There were exactly two individuals inside of it – if you did not count the living specimen that Cerberus had found after the battle and promptly secured to a table- and those two individuals took out three Cerberus agents before a hail of gunfire ended their resistance.

The one who was initially in a swivel chair, she threw an enhanced trooper across the room. If her assistant had not succumbed to multiple blasts of biotic energy then the battle could have turned. They could have lost every one. Everything. This whole thing felt like a set up.

Their allies' promises seemed so alluring. Of course Chaos forget to mention a few things until it was too late to turn back. Sailors, Shadows, and the . . . things that were being made on this planets version of Mercury.

"74 hours until interference can be expected", commented a soldier in a voice not quite their own.

Lights flickered. Green crystals shot out and tore their way through the throat of an enhanced soldier by the door. Gray blood splattered against the wall and froze solid. The crystal on the living specimen quickly replenished itself from thin air. That was the phenomenon they were studying: Crystal Tokyo's new weapon, "Serenity", a natural bane to all things touched by Chaos. It reacted aggressively to protect its host.

"No- no- No!", screamed the scientist. The computer he was trying to access exploded with a hellish crack. And then there was burst of light. When that bright white light faded the scientist was nothing more then a few chunks of flesh scattered here or there and every single Cerberus operative was now pooling in their own blood.

The specimen was still alive. A green cystal cacoon had formed around her just in time. Thick vibrant green coffin like walls separated her everything else. Help would not come for another 73 hours. She could not move, she could not scream- she could still feel everything.

-(-

One

Commander Shepard peered into the yawning gate. Colors that she'd never seen before, that she knew she shouldn't exist, danced in an indescribable way. Right now she was on Surkesh. A few meters ahead of her there was an inter dimensional portal that had been gifted to the salarians by some one called Sailor Mercury. It'd be her ticket to the other humanities home dimension.

"We're still getting strange reading off of it", muttered an STG agent to Shepards left, "and they tell us that after you go through it'll just disappear".

Slivers of darkness fled from light cast by the portal. The cameras in the room would later record this as spots of iridescent light. To Shepard these spots were blurs. They appeared to be bits of space where reality hit a glitch before her highly evolved senses.

Humanities Savoir glanced at the Salarian to her left, "I don't suppose that you'll be joining me"

He shook his head.

"Very well then", Shepard took a large step forward. She almost lost her footing. Gravity was weaker towards the entrance of the portal. But there was another force. Sliding her towards it. She took a few smaller steps, and then she was pulled into the portal. Cast beyond all that she had ever known.


	11. The Sleep of Reason

With the gentle tingling of bells, Shepard emerged from the place between places, she found herself standing in an empty ballroom. The floor was smooth. It was motionless. Time had turned it into a faded expanse of yellowed white marble.

Shepard smiled, "Still in better condition then the rest stops back on earth"

"You are on earth, Shepard", croaked a voice.

In the distance, leaning against a mahogany door of significant proportions, was a man. No- a boy. Couldn't have been older then 24. But his face was a ragged mess of scars. His brown skin carried a sickly ashen tint.

"They thought it would be easier for you to . . . adjust. If you were greeted by some one from your earth"

There were chandeliers over head, swaying gently from an imperceptible breeze that could not exist. There were no windows in the ballroom. No windows that Shepard could see. "Do I know you?", she asked. And her voice carried itself to the young man who shook their head.

"Would you like to come with me?", he asked.

Overhead the lights flickered weakly. The Chandeliers ceased their motion, and Shepard noticed that the kid was putting allot of weight their right leg. His expression was pained.

" I'd rather stay here", called back Shepard.

The shattered figure, who was still leaning against the huge mahogany door shuddered. An impossibly load roaring creaking noise filled the Ball room as the doors- on the opposite side of ballroom opened to the bewilderment of the young man, and to the dull surprise of Commander Shepard.

A sea of blinding light, a well of pressure, and a flurry of rose petals greeted commander Shepard. A fine young lady with short blue hair stepped into the almost empty ballroom. She smiled nervously.

"Sorry, I guess that the gate way dumped you here by mistake. My apologies", she said with a curt little bow, "Please, follow me".

Commander Shepard raised an eyebrow. Her eyes had adjusted to the light. In the other room, the other ballroom, people were laughing. They were happy. Some of them were in Tuxedo's and some of them were in dresses. The most beautiful dresses she'd ever seen. Of different makes, and styles, and colors.

The Commander took a deep breath, and then she shrugged. "Sure"

The Blue haired young lady came up to Shepard and put her arm through the Commanders arm. "We've been waiting for you", they Merrily chirped.

Sheppard nodded.

"I don't suppose you'll make me dance with any tortured souls"

"Only the ones we couldn't save", responded the Blue haired young woman, "and you killed the last human in that category. But, if they're your type, then I guess you could dance with me."

The Massive Mahogony doors closed behind the pair. It had taken them over 30 paces to travel from where Shepard stood to their current location. The doors took over 14 seconds to close.

"You aren't human?"

"Do you still consider yourself human Shepard?"

An orchestral score swelled. People scrambled for partners. The Blue haired woman offered Shepard a hand, which the commander accepted with grace of someone trying to strangle a rabbit.

"Not much of a Dancer", the Blue haired girl asked flatly.

"I do my dancing on the battlefield. With a sniper rifle, and camouflage, and plenty of space between me and what I'm trying to kill"

"So, do you not prefer close combat?"

Shepard put a hand on the young ladies hips. Said young lady regarded the Commander. Her expression was unreadable. Her eyes gave away little. The music continued to play. They swayed.

"Well, I enjoy it", admitted the Commander, "but I lack finesse".

The young lady winced in pain. The commanders clumsy feet were turning her toes into hamburger meet. She should have borrowed a pair of Mamo-chans reinforced Usagi proof dancing shoes.

"mmmmghgrhg, you don't say", suggested the blue haired woman diplomatically.

"So", cut in Shepard, "are you the one in charge?"

"Oh no, I'm just the Royal Doctor. ", truthfully stated Ami Mizuno/ Sailor Mercury, princess of Mercury, the sailor of water and knowledge.

"That isn't the whole truth", stated Commander Shepard very undiplomatically.

Ami Mizuno grimaced.

"What- what are you going to do about it Shepard?"

"Well", said the Commander sighed as she mulled over the likely hood that she was just a pawn in some bigger game, "First things-"

She reached out, and she snapped Ami Mizuno's neck. Then she closed her eyes and made peace with herself. Then Shepard took a deep breath. She didn't think about galactic politics, or what could have been, or what was about to happen.

She thought about a little girl that had been fused with a machine. And all the years she must have suffered. Shepard didn't wonder if she'd done the right thing. She exhaled. And then she died. Happy.

* * *

 **AN:** Hey, thank you every one who read this story. And every one who favorited it. I'm sorry that it was a let down and that was terrible and that I couldn't execute on such a promising premise. Sorry. Also, I couldn't have kept on written it wasn't for the awesome reviews by Nobody Smurf. And I'm eternally grateful to AiSard for giving an honest review that made me realize that I should probably try to rewrite this story. Sorry that I messed up the rewrite. And sorry, super awesome guest reviewer, that I never made that time line or full on Sailor Moon Codex so that people who weren't that well aquatinted with Sailor Moon could follow along.

Any ways, thank you so much every one. I'm sorry. I'll try not to Fudge it up this bad next story. If you want to read a story written by an Author who can actually write, check out the work TheElephantInThePrideParade. Her work is amazing!


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